Was executive meddling the cause of "humans as batteries" in The Matrix?

I just ran across this on TVTropes's page "Human Resources":

In The Matrix the robots use humans as batteries! (And recycle the dead into nutrient solution to help feed the living).

This would have been Did Not Do the Research if it wasn't that it is all Executive Meddling. The original story had the brains of the humans being used as part of a neural network for additional computing power. But the suits thought that was too hard for people to understand. So instead we get them as batteries, which is Artistic License - Physics.

So:

Is it true that the original script used humans as part of a neural net?

And if so, was it changed for the reason given above?

Answer

Yes, this is true, though its not clear how hard the Wachowskis fought to keep their original idea.

The only "official statement" I know of is an off-hand comment from one of the Wachowskis on the DVD commentary for one of the director's cuts (I forget which but I think its on the Ultimate Matrix Collection.) They discussed the whole setup for the Matrix and mentions that they "originally had a different idea" before dismissing the question as irrelevant to the story. (e.g. it doesn't matter to them why the machines did what they did, as its just a plot device to get the story started.)

More details about what that original plan was come from some written material based on early pre-release information from the movie. Specifically, Neil Gaiman's short story "Goliath" is set in the Matrix universe and includes this alternate view. I have also heard that the "novelization" of the Matrix included this idea but there's no such novel that I know of; its possible that a novelized version of an early script exists (there's a published version of the shooting script for sale but that includes the story as filmed.)

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