Original artwork, not a still
Never send a human to do a machine's job.
— The Matrix ‧ 1999
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Smith treats humans as unreliable tools, and the line is his verdict on Cypher: a traitor is still a human, and humans fail. It shows the Agents' view of the world, cold professionals who find people disappointing. Fans quote it as a dry office joke about handing a job to the wrong tool, or about giving a person a task that needs automating.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The MatrixShow the scene
Late in The Matrix (1999), Morpheus is held in a high-rise government building, strapped to a chair while Agent Smith works to break his mind for the access codes to Zion's mainframe. Two other Agents come in with news from outside: Cypher, the Nebuchadnezzar crewman who sold out his captain for a comfortable life back in the Matrix, has failed to deliver the rest of the crew. Smith answers with the line, then reasons that if the insider has failed, the crew will cut their connection, and that they are dead either way.
Sources (2)
- IMSDb: The Matrix scriptNiko Hotel presidential suite scene (shooting script; closing lines may differ in the final cut)Reference checked
- Wikipedia: The MatrixCast sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
