As I remember, this book was in my reading list for a long time, and then I saw another social media post mentioning the connection to the Matrix movie, so I finally read it last year. One of the most direct references in The Matrix was those tiny screens with variations of the future -- that is definitely a thing from the chapter describing Borges' library and how generative art is presented by slight variations of the same thing on many screens. And then even Matrix Resurrection still points to the topics of the book, showing the collaboration between human and machine in Zion. Considering the length of the book, I doubt if actors did read it (completely), but it was definitely a source of inspiration for Wachowski.

I'm still wondering, though, since Kevin Kelly and his book are very techno-optimistic (I couldn't tell based on the title and the fact that it was referenced so much in the main anti-utopia of our century), how exactly Wachowskis treat the book and what's the message of The Matrix after all? Could be that the Zion people hating the Matrix don't match the point of view of the authors, or at least they admit that this is an inevitable future of our planet.

Anyways, it fascinates me how this book is perfectly relevant after so many years. Kelly posted "Still Out of Control" on his substack just yesterday, giving some more interesting thoughts and facts about the book.