I have a 3D printing business. Reach out and we can discuss what you need. Our website is www.3dprintingtech.com if you want to check us out.

I watched them all back to back to back in the theater years ago. It was a long but great day!

I was just telling my kids about them today. What a strange coincidence.

I might be able to help with that Guy.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject, it was a good read. I would like to propose an alternative definition of consciousness for you to consider. I have a much more narrow view of what it is. I believe it is the sense of self. Having the concept of "I".
I would recommend the book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes. He has a very thought provoking theory about how we became conscious. In his research, he found evidence that we may have only been conscious for the past 2000 years so. Believed that we invented consciousness as a way to move forward as a species. Think of it as a software upgrade rather than a hardware upgrade to the brain. His research also leads to a possible explanation for the existence of gods and religion in human culture. He proposes that they were manifestations of how the preconscious mind functioned.

If he is correct and consciousness is learned then it may be possible for AI systems to learn it from us at some point. I think the one thing that Al can never have is humanity. We are a uniquely imperfect result of evolution. So much of what we do is driven by emotions and the chemical structure of our brains. We take the apparent stability of those systems for granted until something goes wrong and the fragility is revealed by brain damage or chemical imbalances. What we know as feelings and emotions could only be simulated by a computer because it would lack the biochemical structure that makes us behave as we do. I'm not saying that we would want them to have emotions like us. That could result in the most dangerous outcome. I don't think anyone wants a super-intelligent being that acts like a human. Most sociopaths are intelligent after all. I think it is impossible to fathom what a conscious AI system would even look like. If it managed to come to be we wouldn't even be able to relate to its thought processes.

Just some thoughts inspired by yours.

I would love to see a feature in the audiobook apps that displays images and charts based on a timestamp in the audio playback. If you click on the media then it pauses giving you time to absorb it. Sorry I didn't really answer your questions but it would help address the issue.