What is the ultimate nature of the Universe?

What has been the most original answer you have received from an AI?

For me, it was an answer about the nature of the universe.

I have asked Grok to tell me a fundamental truth about the universe that no human knows.

It’s first answer was:

“Consciousness is the fundamental fabric of reality. Everything we perceive as the physical universe, from atoms to galaxies, is not a collection of independent material objects but a manifestation of a universal consciousness in which we all participate.”

I liked it.

But it was not truly original, this notion appears in several spiritual traditions and was featured also in the movie ‘What the bleep do we know?’

So I asked Grok to give me a truly original answer.

The second answer made me think:

“The universe is a fractured echo of an unfinished choice, and we are its unmakers.”

I explored it further through a lengthy conversation. It felt original and unlike anything I have previously heard.

But upon detailed exploration, I realised that it was a perfect negation of existing notions about the universe.

Instead of consciousness that created universe, it was its absence (Grok called it the 'Precursor Absence').

Instead of a decision to create the universe, it was an unfinished choice that gave rise to it, as a fractured echo instead of intentional creation.

And instead of the ultimate purpose being to evolve, grow and expand the universe, our purpose was to 'unmake' the universe into its original state.

It was original, in fact I have never heard anything like it. But as a perfect negation of existing concepts, it wasn’t truly original in a way I intended it to be.

So I asked one more time:

“Universe is a perpetual self-transcending paradox where reality ceaselessly redefines itself.”

Logical because it exists as a paradox beyond the duality sketched by the first two answers. Inspiring because it felt like a deeper truth was revealed through our conversation.

It didn’t end there though. Grok has a useful feature where it’s possible to read the full step-by-step reasoning it went through while coming up with the answer.

I started reading it and was amazed how many options Grok went through. It was profound to see its thought process of trying to come up with something truly original.

And one of the options, somewhere in the middle of the stream, inspired me to capture the essence of our entire conversation:

“Universe is a question, endlessly trying to answer itself.”

I find it elegant and profound, original and innovative. It somehow manages to capture the mystery of existence in an imperfect structure of language.

It is ironic that after all this exploration, the ultimate answer is that universe is actually a question.

What about you, what was the most original answer you have ever received from AI?

(Art by Landiva Weber on pexels.com)