Recent TCS publications with philosophical aspects
some of what you refer to is covered under a general heading known as "digital physics" or digital philosophy which has a continuing thread of research in physics albeit not always mainstream.

a notable example of a TCS paper/ survey with major philosophical angles/ analysis


Why Philosophers Should Care About Computational Complexity / Aaronson


another key area/ possibility you mention is AI which has generally broken off from TCS research as practiced in academia and is now regarded as either more applied or more abstract/ speculative, and few researchers cross that gap, but there are many books on the subject by respected researchers verging on the philosophical. eg, recently


The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World / Domingos (2015)