If you are going into technical diving, you should not be using AI. Analog gauges are more reliable and less of a failure point. At any rate, AI transmitters would all implode long before 200m.
The AI transmitter for a Perdix AI is rated to a depth of 152m. What is your basis for saying it will implode long before 200m? I mean, yes, it might. But, do you have any actual data to support your statement? I was reading about Dave Shaw in Diving Into Darkness over the weekend. It seems to me like a lot of dive gear is only rated to 100m or 150m because that's all the rating it needs in order to sell to its intended audience. But, that doesn't mean that's all it can handle. Regardless, by the time the OP is ready to dive deeper than 150m, I reckon he would not need advice from the Internet on whether to use AI or not.
In the same vein, what is your basis for saying analog gauges are more reliable and less of a failure point?
There have been several threads about AI since the Perdix AI came out. I think it's fair to say that there are highly experience points of view that would disagree with you.
I am NOT highly experienced, but in my limited experience I have used AI way more than an SPG. And in that time, my AI has never failed. But, my 1-month old SPG blew a spool O-ring.
My AI transmitter has 2 O-rings. One in the HP port and one in the battery compartment cover.
My SPG has at least 3 (maybe 4 or 5?) O-rings and the hose itself which could burst. I have seen a decent number of posts from experienced divers talking about how relatively common it is for HP spools to blow an O-ring (like what happened to me). Not that it is COMMON, but that it's not unusual. It definitely seems more common than either O-ring on an AI transmitter leaking.
So, not only do SPGs have more failure points, all of those failure points would result in loss of gas.
In contrast, the Shearwater AI transmitter has 2 failure points and only one 1 of those would result in loss of gas - the same HP port O-ring that an SPG has.
Other possible failures are, for AI, the battery or electronics dies and the transmitter gives no reading or an erroneous reading. For an SPG, the SPG guts can have an issue and also give erroneous readings.
I have seen posts here on SB from people whose SPG gave erroneous readings. An SPG that reads falsely high is a somewhat serious safety issue. I don't recall ever seeing a post where a PPS AI transmitter (the kind used by Shearwater and many others) gave an erroneous reading. I think, if an AI transmitter isn't working correctly, it is very obvious - most likely by simply not giving a reading at all. That is a much safer situation than an SPG that sticks at 1200 when your TP is 1000.
I mean, imagine you're diving and you have an idea of what your gas is. You look at your gauge expecting to see 1000 and that it's time to turn. But, it says 1200, so you think "cool. I'm doing good on gas today, I can stay a little longer." You check a bit later and it still says 1200 and you realize it's stuck. But, now you could be at 800 psi or even less. If your buddy picks that time to go OOA (or blow an HP seat or whatever), you could be well and truly screwed by your SPG.
I'm a tech diver. I use AI and no SPG. Why "should" I not use AI?? So far, it has been a great tool for helping me understand my gas consumption - and at a much more detailed level than just "I average this much over a whole working/drift/TypeX/TypeY/TypeZ dive." And it has been 100% reliable - unlike the new SPG I bought, which has only been 99% reliable.
