Ancient astronauts could definitely make sense. They could have created humans for a source of meat, or for a hunt. I believe this to be more likely than the guardians being benevolent beings who want to spread the love. From what I gather they were a fearsome species, who looked down on other less advanced species. I doubt they expected humans to turn out the way we did. I wonder if our evolution to what we are in 3303 would have made the guardians respect us, or be ashamed?
Another thing that I just remembered that may be worth looking back in to - the mysterious entities mentioned only as "the creators". I will have to do some research to refresh my memory and connect any dots now with all this new info. However one thing that sticks out in my mind was when Jasmina Halsey disappeared, she said that she saw some kind of paradise that she believed we needed to find.
I never gave it much thought before, but after reading about the Guardians use of AI to create virtual spaces, could this not be what she saw? Perhaps she was rescued by a guardian AI hybrid, who showed her these amazing things using technology so advanced to her it seemed like an spiritual vision.
I'm going to try and chase up some of these older articles concerning Halsey, Jaques and Palin. See if anything stands out as possibly connected to the guardians.
Some excellent points
I think you're right, they would have looked down on their creations, for sure. If any of this has any merit, then I think it would be wise to assume that they could have taken some modified chimps/apes (Homo Erectus) back to their bubble in order to breed them and fight them in hunts - they are carnivorous, and they did take delight in the hunt and presenting the hunted prey to their friends or family at gatherings.
Sort of like a mash-up of Predator
I defo think that she (Halsey) was shown something like a "paradise" in some form, be it a hallucination in close proximity to them or, more likely, if she has some sort of cybernetic implants (this is 3303 and humans do use them) that is a part of/connected to her brain, then they could well have "interfaced" with her implants via wireless - thus making these visions transferable!
It would certainly explain her sudden obsession...