It is not a red herring because you critiqued Hoffman’s use of language in terms which implied that he either did not understand what he was talking about or that he was misleading his audience in the way he was using scientific terms. In order for you to be able to make that judgement you would need to understand the terms at least as well as he does. Otherwise how would you know that he misused the language?
Hoffman’s proposals relate to the philosophy of mind, and his qualifications and posts seem appropriate to that. He got his PhD at MIT under a leading neuroscientist. No one says Daniel Dennett can’t talk about consciousness because he doesn’t have a strong enough scientific background. If anything Hoffman seems to have a stronger background in hard science.
Plus it’s worth noting that Hoffman is more specific about the view of quantum mechanics that supports his ideas during his conversation with Dennett and Chalmers, calling it Quantum Bayesianism. Dennett and Chalmers are both very intelligent and knowledgable in this discussion. If Hoffman wasn’t using scientific language accurately they would have pointed it out.
Hoffman doesn’t claim to be a theoretical physicist, but he does aim to use to science accurately and apply it to his own field. In fact if he was a theoretical physicist then where would be his training to talk about philosophy of mind? Hoffman’s credentials appear to be exactly what’s needed to be able to tackle this subject.
I guess it’s possible that a man with a PhD from MIT, with senior academic posts, awards, and publications, who has devoted his life to the problem of consciousness, and holds discussions with other experts in the field, doesn’t know the proper scientific use of the word “observer”. But I don’t think it’s likely.