The hypothesis is that the stars aren't real, they're just an illusion or a backdrop put their by superintelligences so we don't see what's actually going on. This would explain the great filter paradox (Fermi's paradox) and would imply that if we build an AI then that doesn't necessarily mean it'll get to eat all the stars.

If the SI wanted to fool us, why would it make us see something (a lifeless universe) that would make us infer that we're being fooled by an SI?