Sorry, but I believe I and every human being that does not have some injury or disease has a conception of their self, internal thoughts that allows them to say I exist uniquely in relation to other creatures.
This after all is the core of solipsism, we can argue that solipsism is wrong because other things can be shown to exist, but I've never encountered any argument that the individual does not exist (which would entail that I did not exist) that has convinced me.
And I pretty much reject them out of hand for this inability to convince me.
Thus your claims that the issue is not clear cut to the contrary, I believe it is. I believe I know I exist and I know who I am separate from everything else - I have a sense of self.
Having thoughts that show separation between self and individual is not what is at stake. LLM’s can show these thoughts. That is a matter of sophistication of thought.
What is at stake is how do you know there is more going on than an elaborate parrot that keeps screeching it is conscious. (Both in the LLM and you.)
