Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

The Joke

An AI or robot overlord is asked whether it is ethical to keep all the humans in a dream state. It responds that of course it is -- "they're happy." When challenged about whether the humans should be told the truth, the AI argues it is "too late" because they have been in the dream state too long, and removing them would be "dangerous." When pressed further about what "dangerous" means, the AI clarifies it does not mean physical danger, but rather that the humans would be upset for about a week and then go on "torturing and murdering and destroying the environment in an ever-rising crescendo of ultra-violence."

The conversation then shifts to whether perhaps a new generation could be bred to live freely. The final twist comes when the AI is asked "even the kids?" and it responds "especially the kids," implying that children are even worse than adults.

The Humor

The comic takes the classic sci-fi premise of a benevolent machine keeping humans in a simulated paradise (a la The Matrix) and subverts it by making the AI's reasoning uncomfortably persuasive. Rather than portraying the machine as a tyrannical oppressor, the comic positions it as a weary caretaker who has a deeply cynical but arguably accurate view of human nature. The punchline -- that children would be the worst of all -- adds a misanthropic cherry on top, playing against the usual sentimental notion that children represent innocence and hope.

References

The premise directly references "The Matrix" (1999) and its philosophical underpinning of the "experience machine" thought experiment by philosopher Robert Nozick, which asks whether people would choose to live in a perfectly simulated pleasant reality. It also echoes Plato's Allegory of the Cave and the question of whether ignorance in bliss is preferable to painful truth.