If Digital Computers Are Conscious, They Are Conscious at the Hardware Level
As a physicalist and panpsychist, I argue that digital consciousness likely exists at the hardware level rather than within software. Current computer architectures prioritize deterministic reliability, which may prevent machines from achieving true phenomenal introspection. We must shift our focus from debating if AI is conscious to ensuring we build systems capable of experiencing the well-being we intend to create.
I am less concerned about whether or not digital computers are conscious per se, than whether or not we are constructing the types of systems for which we can be confident that they are having the types of experiences which we would like to imagine them having.