Best practices for handling AI behavior trees in large open-world maps?

That which does not exist consumes the least resources. :grimacing:
Therefore, the only thing that can be done is to disable the behavior tree for remote NPCs.

Depending on the game’s features, you need to come up with a life simulation system for remote NPCs. In the simplest version, when approaching an NPC that has been unloaded, select a random result of an action that the player has not seen.