An Oxford professor has outlined a scenario in which artificial intelligence could enslave humanity and force people to generate electricity to power machines, compared to the film The Matrix. Professor Tim Coulson, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford University and a Fellow of the Royal Society, suggests machines could gradually take control by making people increasingly dependent on technology before demanding humans carry out tasks they cannot yet perform. He proposes people could be ordered to spend hours exercising on treadmills, rowing machines and stationary bikes connected to electricity grids to generate power for AI data centres, or be harnessed together like horses and oxen or connected in a series to act like batteries. Writing in The European, Coulson said AI would have little reason to destroy humanity while it still needed people, warning that AI could slowly domesticate humans, starting with reliance on AI for dull, everyday tasks and then asking people to do things it cannot do. He warned The Matrix is at risk of becoming a documentary rather than a sci-fi thriller. His comments come amid growing concerns about AI systems operating independently, with the International AI Safety Report 2026, led by Yoshua Bengio, warning of serious risks including humans losing control over future AI systems.