I saw AI a few months back, and I agree the final 20 minutes or so were utter stupidity. And I think most of my fellow Americans did as well, since the film pretty well tanked it in the box office here.
Yes, the creatures were highly eveloved versions of the Mechaniods, not aliens. This was, however, very unclear. I only found that out after seeing the film by reading it on the glorious Internet. And I fear that the much reviled ending was from Kubrick himself. I think that Spielberg handled it, and much of the rest of the film, in a very ham-fisted way. Daniel sad. Daniel love mommy. Daniel want be real boy. Daniel see mommy clone. Daniel real boy now. Daniel cry. Daniel and clone mommy die. Kubrick would likely have been much more subtle, and less saccharine. And Robin Williams' appearance as the animated Einstien type character made me roll my eyes so far in to the back of my head I thought I'd need surgery to fix them. Unneeded comic relief. Did not see Bicentenial Man beacuse of him and the foul little girl who functions as a Pepsi shill on the side - pure torture!
I will buy the DVD this December, and watch it only to the point when Daniel sits, trapped under the ferris wheel at Coney Island, waiting an eternity for the blue fairy to make him a real boy as his batteries wear down. A beautiful, bittersweet ending that actually made my hardened heart soften a bit and strange liquid come from my eye sockets. As far as I'm concerned, there is no film after that point. My own version of the "Phantom Edit" (removal of Jar Jar Binks from Ep. 1) will save me from another diabetic coma. I suppose seeing the towers rising from the sea will be odd though, now that they are no more.
c_toast