Can we not divide consciousness from sentience?
Consciousness is being aware, which is pretty easy to test.
A snail is consciousness, since it sees and feels and hears and responds to those stimuli.
Given this definition, it also applies to current AI.
Sentience is being aware that you are aware.
This is pretty tricky to test, since from actions alone I can’t tell whether they are considered or not.
Until the CIA 'fess up to their mind reading tech I guess you just have to ask…
Or failing that use a mirror as a test, whereby when presented with a mirror you give a reasonable impression that you see yourself.
This is passed by elephants, cetaceans and great apes (including humans,)
I’m pretty sure my cat does too.
If sentience is an emergent property of processing power, when your toaster tells you that it is sentient who are you to naysay it?
(I understand that “conscious” and “human” are considered equivalent, and why there will be a struggle to move the “what is human” boundary further away from old white men, but, really, get over yourselves, grow up.)
