The scientific part can easily be tested according to the authors. And maybe it will be proven wrong. But if it's proven correct, then, of course, the speculation that the universe is a neural network could be a theist's dream come true. Because of course the universal neural network could theoretically be called an instantiation of the mind of God.
The article is pure science: New research indicates the whole universe could be a giant neural network
In this paper we discussed a possibility that the entire universe on its most fundamental level is a neural network. This is a very bold claim. We are not just saying that the artificial neural networks can be useful for analyzing physical systems or for discovering physical laws, we are saying that this is how the world around us actually works. With this respect it could be considered as a proposal for the theory of everything, and as such it should be easy to prove it wrong. All that is needed is to find a physical phenomenon which cannot be described by neural networks.
The article is pure science: New research indicates the whole universe could be a giant neural network
In this paper we discussed a possibility that the entire universe on its most fundamental level is a neural network. This is a very bold claim. We are not just saying that the artificial neural networks can be useful for analyzing physical systems or for discovering physical laws, we are saying that this is how the world around us actually works. With this respect it could be considered as a proposal for the theory of everything, and as such it should be easy to prove it wrong. All that is needed is to find a physical phenomenon which cannot be described by neural networks.