Artificial-intelligence systems such as large language models (LLMs) can exhibit behaviour that seems strikingly intelligent. This has led many people, including some experts, to wonder whether these systems could have some form of consciousness — the capacity for subjective experience. However, we think that existing AI systems are not conscious, and that, along current trajectories of development, they are not likely to become conscious. Greater clarity about whether AI could become consciousness will be crucial as society grapples with the challenges posed by this increasingly powerful technology.
That’s a hell of an assumption you’re starting with.
There are quite a lot of philosophers who would say that free will doesn’t exist (we call them determinists). I’d wager that plenty of them would posit that consciousness exists. It’s hard to talk about our experience of the world without consciousness.