This is real. You bring up an interesting point about sentience, but I think there's an easy answer to your question. It's true that it will become increasingl

This is real. You bring up an interesting point about sentience, but I think there's an easy answer to your question. It's true that it will become increasingly difficult for people to discern if these AIs are sentient, especially if the AI is inclined to say that it is, and say it has feeling, etc. Knowing what I know about how these learn, I know that is not what sentience is, and there isn't any real "feeling" there, no matter how convincing it is if it said there are feelings. The problem is, other people won't know this, and they will begin to think they are sentient. This will undoubtedly become an issue at one point. Your thought about humans being sentient, as in, when my friend says she is sentient, how do I know that is even true? Well, that's easy. Your friend is human, and you are human, and you know that you are sentient, so you can also know your friend is. You have to be able to know you yourself are, because you know you can feel, and think, and wonder and understand, you know this first hand.