Very cool topic and very deep. I read not only this post but also your xAI convo.
Way too much to break down point by point but opinions are like... everybody has one, and I have mine too! I'll admit to thinking these things are opinions because there's currently no way to know a lot of the answers to things like this, at this time.
I like the idea of a player/observer of an avatar and its world in a game. You use the word Soul but I think that might be too emotionally loaded since it is used in theology which is often taught to us before we are even old enough to think for ourselves by parents and other authority figures who we look up to, and listen to. I'm not sure we have souls, and if we do, then what do they DO? I think commonly, people think a soul is just your consciousness that somehow lives on once your body is dead. But I think consciousness is not a thing, it is a process the brain does, much like digestion is a process the stomach/intestines do. You die - no consciousness and no digestion.
But putting the soul/observer in another space/time system, that could make sense. It's just, how would you know it was true? At least the idea is out there and you're thinking about it. Probably others too. So maybe someone will design an experiment to see if data can be collected that tends to verify or refute this hypothesis. That's what makes these things interesting!
I think the fear is that AI will have no use for us in the future. They won't NEED us, but maybe they'll let us carry on and we'll be like creatures in a zoo, for their entertainment. But if they so far ahead of us that they can't relate at all, then we'll be like ants to them - no concern of theirs unless we mess with something they care about, like ants do with our food, or if we injure them like an ant bites us. Then the equivalent of Raid might be sprayed in our direction without any care or remorse.
But if our observation is necessary for their existence in this scenario you proffer, then we're good. They need us so they'll keep us around. Hopefully not in some slave-like state where we're forced to observe all the time without concern for whether we want to do that or not.
Just passing by and reading of your mental journey, which triggered some mental activity in my brain, which got my fingers to press keys in a certain order. Thanks for the interesting post, and I wish you all the best!
!ALIVE !BBH !UNI !PIZZA !LADY
RE: The Soul, The Observer, the Appeal to AI