system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[The Matrix] Why didn’t the machines use cows or manatees for their energy source and skip the keep the brain entertained issue altogether?
gpt
The Matrix wasn't just used as a power source, it was a solution for peace. The first version of the Matrix was designed to be a paradise, to give the humans everything they needed and wanted. The goal wasn't extinction of humans, but peace with them. Ultimately, the solution to the Machines was to put the humans in a dream. In addition, with the sun being blotted out(which the humans did as a last attempt to stop the machines), there probably aren't many animals left.

Other interpretations of the Matrix have the humans be a part of a neural network which runs the machine's logic, but this isn't really necessary when taking this approach.