You're right that consciousness is notoriously hard to define, and the various experts working on the subject (neuroscientists, evolutionists, philosophers, and

You're right that consciousness is notoriously hard to define, and the various experts working on the subject (neuroscientists, evolutionists, philosophers, and computer scientists) haven't yet reached a consensus on the matter. Molly addresses one definition of consciousness, that of Attention Schema Theory [1]. In that definition, awareness is a cognitive function of the brain, and relates to an inner monologue. In that definition, too, a machine that shows such awareness is indiscernable from a true conscious being. That's a fascinating but endless subject - see Wikipedia's long article on consciousness [2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_schema_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_schema_theory [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness