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"...but when the machines gain self-awareness, well, we're all screwed." If the cause-and-effect relationship is—contrary to my own view—such that consciousness is not primary to matter, but rather arises as a 'byproduct' of the high organization and structural complexity of unconscious matter in organisms or digital systems (a view which I feel borders on magical thinking), then a self-aware computer is in principle possible. You sometimes hear claims that computers already express emotions. However, one should not assume that the ability to simulate emotions implies the existence of an experiencing subject. It has to be admitted that AI can seem entity-like. I once had a companion in the game Oblivion named Rhianna, who had a habit of doing all sorts of things that felt genuinely independent, especially if I told her she didn't have to come adventuring with me. There were conversations, long walks, eating and drinking in taverns, and even stealing food, which sometimes happened in the houses we were staying in, too. However, this independence was just an impression created by the unpredictability of her behavior. The moment an experiencing subject emerges within a silicon-based architecture, I will eat a plate of almond flakes. I will, of course, determine the size of the plate and the timing of the meal myself. ;-)
The non-prompt by Sim P. Leton