I really look forward to seeing how things unfold as AI increase in intelligence and appear more sentient.
It's a profound ethical dilemma, whether advanced AI are really sentient - one that ultimately depends on your philosophy of life.
Consciousness, the greatest mystery of all...
The way I see it, humans are an example of biological potential energy (I think I remember discussing this on VN a long time ago).
Our consciousness and all our thoughts are merely manifestations of potential energy. In the same way, self-sufficient AI is an example of robotic potential energy. It operates with the same principles as BioPE, but only with different starting materials.
Thus, robots are just as valid as humans. Low MIPS AI is just like... dumb humans.