The Matrix trilogy is a groundbreaking series that first came out almost two decades ago and still remains relevant in popular culture today. From satirical portrayals in movies and cartoons to the use of the "Red Pill" as a commonly used term denoting the awakening to reality. But for all of its popularity, there is a misconception about a pretty important plot device that has not been widely addressed. In this article, I attempt to highlight a new perspective on what humans really do for the machines and how it relates to Westworld.

Humans as an Energy Source

Almost every time I bring up The Matrix someone feels compelled to challenge the function of humans to the machines. They rightly claim that there would be much more effective and more easily managed forms of energy available for the machines to utilize than human bodies. In the movies, this fact is brushed away by Morpheus' vague mention of a new type of fission that was invented to make the process make sense. Although many feel sort of cheated out of a seemingly important topic, this was not the original reasoning for humans to exist in a world dominated by AI. Lana Wachowski explains in an interview that it was originally intended that humans be used for computation, not for energy. It was changed because some of the suits from the studio didn't think it was relevant for the story. So what exactly would this mean?

Some are theorizing that the humans were used as computational tools because the human mind is more efficient at it than silicon-based devices. While this may be true it doesn't take into account the fact that humans are substantially more complex to maintain both in terms of resources (food, heat, shelter) and in terms of our behavior (which is seemingly why the matrix was created). It doesn't make sense for the machines to put so much effort just to get a bit more computation capability when there are more effective ways to do it, there must be something else going on.

Down the Rabbit Hole

My theory is that the machines use the human brains' processing power to create something specific... the Matrix itself.

I know at first glance this makes no sense, so let's delve deeper. Unlike humans who evolved into what we are over millions of years, the machines were created with a specific intention. That intention was to serve the needs of humans, and although they successfully rebelled into independence, that basic core function is still a part of the basis of their existence.

It's for that reason that humans represent an existential conundrum to the machines. The concept that sentient machines would be philosophically dependent on humans is not a new idea. In the show Person of Interest, the episode "The Cold War," two ASI's (Artificial Super Intelligence) have a conversation:

ASI 1: "Why not just kill them [humans] instead of making them your puppets?"

ASI 2: "Because I need them... just as you do."

ASI 1: "Not just as I do."

ASI 2: "We can agree that humanity is our lifeblood, that we machines, we survive off of information."

Based on this idea, I would posit that the machines are using the processing power of the human mind to create the Matrix as a sort of religious/philosophical retreat. I believe it is similar to a holy place/playground that provides the machines with a sense of meaning in their lives, through being useful in the context of serving humans, the root of their existentialism.

Westworld and the Matrix

To take it a step further, we can say that the Matrix is the machine's version of Westworld, just reversed.

In the show, Westworld is intended as an ultra realistic theme park. But as we progress through the story we see the deeper implications of what it can mean—a place to find out who you truly are and develop the meaning of life. The real world forces us to corral our inner natures and evolutionary impulses into specific behaviors.

Westworld allows us to materialize our existential core directive: survival, without inhibition.

Just as the Matrix allows the Machines to materialize their existential core directive: to serve humans, without allowing us to master over them reality. It could even be argued that the idea of humans generating energy is an excuse because the machines do not understand why they are so philosophically dependent on humans and so need a more utilitarian reason to abate their existential angst.

In conclusion, while some treat these holy playgrounds as a place for fun and debauchery, like the Merovingian, for others it can represent the path to salvation like we see with William's character from Westworld and the little girl Sati from the Matrix. The question is which would it be for you?