The Matrix is a film that I'm sure most of us have watched. It's an excellent film. The sequels weren't quite as fantastic as the first, but the first was still a joy to watch.
There are several things in the movie that stand out, and in this article, I'll actually admit to a belief that I once held that was similar to what you see in the Matrix, so keep reading.
However, one aspect of the film that I'd want to call attention to is the scene(s) in which humans are seen inside these artificial womb-like structures. They were these vessels that were designed to keep individuals alive for whatever reason those in authority required.
They were connected to numerous lines, including hoses that went into their throats, presumably to give them with food and water.
Well, thanks to Chinese researchers, this is starting to look more like what we might be in for, as they've developed a robotic AI system that can actually care for kids growing within an artificial womb.
According to Independent,
Researchers at the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology in China’s eastern Jiangsu province developed the robot to undertake the labour-intensive task of observing, documenting and manually adjusting the carbon dioxide, nutrition and other environmental inputs.
It is also able to rank embryos by their development potential, according to the South China Morning Post, who first reported on the device.
A research paper published in the Journal of Biomedical Engineering described how the robotic nanny has already been used to nurture animal embryos within an artificial womb environment.
“There are still many unsolved mysteries about the physiology of typical human embryonic development,” the paper stated, adding that the technology would “not only help further understand the origin of life and embryonic development of humans, but also provide a theoretical basis for solving birth defects and other major reproductive health problems.”
It sounds wild, right? Well, now let me tell you my admission of something else that is wild, like I promised.
When I was a teenager, I essentially held to a view that was very similar to the existence that was experienced in The Matrix. Not exact, but similar.
Inside the Matrix, the things around you didn't really exist. You existed, or I should say that your conscience existed, but the other things were not real.
That's basically the view I held. It's called solipsism and it's the idea that nothing exists except for you. You can't really prove that anything exists outside of your own existence and therefore you're the only thing that actually exists.
So that would mean that I'm not actually even writing this article for anyone because since I'm the only person who really exists, there is no one there to really read it.
It's a silly view and thankfully I came to my senses many years ago, but it's fun to think about.