@Julie
How do you recognize consciousness in anything? Including other animals, humans included?
Why assume that another thing be assumed not to be conscious, no matter how apparently capable of problem solving, perception, deception, interpretation, and many myriad other "human" capabilities? We have no way to determine that our own thoughts and feelings are more than bio-electrical impulses, and come down to our programming. An AI shouldn't be assessed more or less critically.
To me this whole scenario strikes me as an analog of church-led geocentrism -- Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, people insist that it simply cannot be that these constructs might have internal experiences like our own, because it upsets our own sense of uniqueness and our place in the world.
"I know I have consciousness because I experience it..." > " I know other things have similar biology to me, so they must also have a conscious experience like me" > " This other thing does not have similar biology/hardware to me, therefore it's experience is different from my own" > "It's perceived experience is different from my own, therefore it is not conscious".

Sorry for the diatribe. Its a good thing when a post generates thoughtful reactions :)