Simulation Theory 2.0: This universe was created by an Artificial Intelligence

Last night I had a dream in which I was given the power and responsibility to create a new universe. In that dream, I started to think about some of the variables that the creation of universes involved, and, from the very beginning, I noticed how hard it was to make some decisions. Of course, I had in mind the universe I already know, and all the decisions were made in comparison with the current one. For example, I found myself deciding things like:

Would I make this universe out of matter, or just energy?

Would I make it deterministic or free, or something in between?

Would it have the same elements and materials than ours or different ones?

Would the physical rules such as gravity and relativity be the same or different? And if they are different, different how?

How would time work in it? Would time travel be possible?

Immediately, I realized that for my universe to have a purpose, I should provide it with intelligent life, and that became my main goal: whatever rules I created, they should be such that by following them, life (and intelligent life) was possible and likely.

Once the life factor entered the scene, new questions arose such as: