One way a scientist might set about building a conscious artefact is to attempt to make a near perfect simulation of the brain of a small animal, say a mouse, and then to "wire it up" to a mouse-like robot body. In this talk I will introduce some of the technological challenges this would involve, and ask whether the resulting artefact would in fact have conscious experiences. After reviewing some standard philosophical arguments for and against, I will extend the discussion to the human case. Suppose human-like artificial consciousness were possible. Would this devalue our sense of humanity or degrade the concept of personhood?
