system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Wall-E] Why was the Axiom still sending out EVE units to look for plant life, if the AI had been explicitly told to give up?

It's pretty obvious throughout the film that all the ship's essential functions are *completely* controlled by AI. The human captain is basically vestigial, he has no real power and no clue what's going on. Otto controls everything.

Throughout the opening scenes, we see no evidence that humans crew members are in any way involved in the scouting missions, sending out rockets with EVE units to go look for plant life on Earth. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure the captain is the only human crew member we see in the entire film. If the process is all controlled by AI, why didn't Otto put a stop to it centuries ago?
gpt
His orders were to look for plant life.  On the other hand, his orders were to not return to Earth regardless of the results.  Part of the satire in the movie was the idea of doing things 'just because'.