  GPT-4 is often heralded as a leading commercial AI offering, sparking debates
over its potential as a steppingstone toward artificial general intelligence.
But does it possess consciousness? This paper investigates this key question
using the nine qualitative measurements of the Building Blocks theory. GPT-4's
design, architecture and implementation are compared to each of the building
blocks of consciousness to determine whether it has achieved the requisite
milestones to be classified as conscious or, if not, how close to consciousness
GPT-4 is. Our assessment is that, while GPT-4 in its native configuration is
not currently conscious, current technological research and development is
sufficient to modify GPT-4 to have all the building blocks of consciousness.
Consequently, we argue that the emergence of a conscious AI model is plausible
in the near term. The paper concludes with a comprehensive discussion of the
ethical implications and societal ramifications of engineering conscious AI
entities.
