[labrador]

I wasn't clear. I'm talking about consciousness in general, humans, animals, octopi... I keep reading but haven't found an explanation that satisfies me. Ray Kurzweil has some interesting things to say about computers and consciousness in his "The Age of Spiritual Machines". I was skeptical about a lot of what he wrote when I read it many years ago.

Now I'm not sure it matters. If people imbue their devices with intelligence and emotions then that's what they perceive. I've since learned about Tulpas. Some people have imaginary friends that seem very real to them. People will likely move their Tulpas out of their minds and into their AI's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa

People on reddit are already talking about Tulpa's and AI

https://old.reddit.com/r/Tulpa/

[BlueTemplar]

If Tulpas are a (very mild and benign) form of split personality (see also : writer's characters manifesting a kind of will of their own), then "moving them out" might be just an illusion... at least until/if much more advanced technology comes along. (It's then pretty much the same question as the possibility of "mind uploading".)