Will a machine ever be made to be conscious?
Machine Intelligence
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I'd say certainly, but be aware that by the time we ever create such a thing, our understanding of what consciousness is will have changed substantially. It may turn out to be far simpler, more fundamental thing than we expect.
You might find this to be an interesting commentary on the subject. It's rather long, the audience can be rather boring, but the talk itself is quite interesting.
http://www.archive.org/details/FutureSalon_02_2006