AI could see us like we see trees.

As in material-stock to be consumed for development, or aesthetically-pleasing entities we enjoy having around?

Both! You can rip them apart and reassemble them into aesthetically pleasing structures in still-living ones.

According to the documentary "The Matrix", it's the first one.

Unfortunately it doesn't make sense to use us as batteries or energy sources, thermodynamically. But they could maybe use our brains as computers (and this was the first idea the writers had, they just decided against it because it would be too complicated for mainstream audiences)

But in this case it would be rather wasteful to also nourish the rest of the body. As a bonus, if all the remaining people are just brains floating in a tank, they can't really escape.

In that film (brains in a jar), you don't escape to reality, you escape to a different level of the matrix (one where you've got superpowers). Last shot in the film will have a lot in common with the last shot in Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

It won't get great results from test audiences.

> Last shot in the film

What do you mean by that? (Not a native speaker and out of ideas on how to search for it)

Literally? I'm talking about the last scene in the film, right at the end. The last thing that happens before the credits.

The film's nearly 40, and I still don't want to spolier it. Suffice to say, it made me feel physically sick.

Oh, thanks!

> and this was the first idea the writers had, they just decided against it because it would be too complicated for mainstream audiences

Doesn't make immediate sense to me, if using brains as computers you wouldn't want to occupy them with the Matrix simulation and the whole story falls apart, so how was the complicated plot ought to be? Use the brains with the Matrix how we are used already for solving captchas?

From what I recall, it was studio meddling that forced the "humans as batteries" idea.

We think with much more than just our brain. For example, there are neurons at the stomach level and your gut bacteria determines part of your mood. You could make a case that the whole body is required to capture the human experience.

> use our brains as computers (and this was the first idea the writers had, they just decided against it because it would be too complicated for mainstream audiences)

Source please!

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26o6al/til_i... which links to https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/19817/was-executiv... which cites an interview, but doesn't link to it or otherwise show which interview that was said

On the other hand, https://www.reddit.com/r/matrix/comments/q2xefs/batteries_no... says that this was never true

We should nurture familial-like relationships with them - kids generally look after their parents.

For one second. Then, bacteria.

That'd be us, ourselves.

like how success of a species becomes the failure of the same species. the endless cycles of success and failure.

also in multi-generational wealth: poor and hard working become successful (when society allows it) then the descendants are lazy and loose the wealth, and finally further descendants are poor and may learn to work hard.

that is, until societies re-organize and stop rewarding hard-work with success; what happens next is still happening, it's what we see in our actual political leadership, it's not very effective and is dragging the world into a seemingly unavoidable war. (both china and USA blaming each other for the escalating: "they (the other) should change course cuz we won't"