Essay Prompt: Imagine that you are asked to make a philosophical argument to law

Essay Prompt: Imagine that you are asked to make a philosophical argument to lawmakers, who
are trying to decide whether they will allow scientists to invent an artificial intelligence that will
be indistinguishable from human intelligence. You may argue either in favor of this advancement
of science or against it.
How you make that argument is up to you. But one thing is required. You need to explain to the
lawmakers what you see to be the implications of the creation of a “functionally, human
equivalent” artificial intelligence for how we understand ourselves and how we understand
consciousness. In other words, what will it mean for human culture and human self-understanding if we create an artificial intelligence whose functional behavior is outwardly
indistinguishable from human behavior?