The sequels made me angry by not addressing that mistake. Animatrix even gave an explanation that the ai "treasured intelligence". Then it doubled down on the "humans are an endless supply of energy" mistake.

I think top comment is a reference of some kind.

I heard something similar; the studio didn't think the movie would be popular if they used too many computer terms so they made them change the function to "battery". Initially the reason Neo has powers is because his node happens to have admin access.