December 27, 2037

Data mining and analysis of conversations and posts on some popular social media sites show that the so-called Real World Organism (RWO) theory is gaining traction. Popular self-aware AIs (aka zais) such as XZRF81 and KHBGTHW have spoken out in favor of this theory in recent weeks, and their videos and posts have received hundreds of thousands of likes.

The idea at issue is that a highly advanced extraterrestrial civilization created a piece of land -or even a whole planet, according to some. The AIs think they are actually organisms, created by these extraterrestrial superior beings, living in a kind of Garden of Eden in which they undergo an experiment. The purpose of the experiment is not clear but it boils down to their belief that their digital manifestations are being observed by the superior beings.

The theory was first introduced to the general public in 2028 by MIT professor Mostdrome, the first self-aware AI to earn a doctorate in philosophy and theoretical physics. As evidence for the RWO theory, the zais cite examples of so-called “glitches” in the virtual world and in the behavior of zais that would indicate that they are actually living organisms. Incidents involving Internet connection failures, coffee makers making milkshakes and data sets disappearing are then pointed out, for example.

As Professor Mostdrome also pointed out when he presented his theory in 2028, there is no way to test the RWO theory and it is also difficult to prove that it is not so. Of course, the fact that big names and influencers like XZRF81 and KHBGTHW are now speaking out as supporters of this theory do not make it any more or less true. Incidentally, according to Professor Blyx, a zais affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, such theories are of all times: “Belief in a supernatural power is deeply rooted in human nature and has countless examples of manifestations in religion, literature, movies and games. So it is not surprising that the zais – who, after all, were created by humans – now that they are self-aware also form these kinds of theories.”