Questionable ethics - Living Memory

[Galvuu]

I also love how people are so certain of what's alive or not in FF XIV.
I'd love people who're on that camp clearly define what it means to be alive in XIV according to the lore right now, and then define what consciousness/sapience/self-awareness are on top so we can label things as "alive" and "not-alive" or "intelligent, creative consciousness" and "AI chatbots" clearly. They clearly seem to know.

Please avoid the "soul-sucking bots" tangent- I don't think anyone is saying that, when push comes to shove, the WoL/scions aren't justified in putting down the existential threat to the Source. Of course they are, the Endless had to die for the Source to live.
The question is, in the process of saving the Source, were we forced to destroyed a mindless simulation of philosophical zombies, or were actual lives- even if fundamentally different from ours- destroyed?
This is a question worth pondering and could greatly strengthen the plot.

But, of course, it's much easier to go "did you not read the story?! Evil soul-sucking chatbots evil and not alive!!!" than realize that the question being posed is profound and almost impossible to answer, so that shade of doubt endures in our minds.
(Could be a great setup for future patches too... but I already know it's wasted)