[tim333]

> there is no artificial consciousness.

But can you be sure there won't be? I mean if you say is the patient conscious and the doctor says yes he's looking around and talking so you then say than only counts if the processing is done by meat rather than silicon?

[agronomov]

I can't be sure because I don't know where the subjective feelings are coming form. But I don't think there's any basis for thinking that an algorithm, however complex, might start experiencing things.

That's not the point though. The point is that there's really no way to tell. Imagine your friend's mind is uploaded to the cloud on their last life's second, and you ask them how they feel. They respond that they are feeling better than ever. They have all of the memories of your friend, they behave like your friend in every possible way. Heck, for simplicity imagine they also have an android body attached to them. For all you care that's just your old friend. The copy is so perfect that there is no way on earth to tell the difference.

However, that would just be an imitation. Could it have feelings? Maybe. I doubt so. We'll never know that. And that not knowing is the root of all evil