Could an artificial intelligence ever be conscious, and what should the law do if it were? This book brings the philosophy of mind, the science of consciousness, artificial intelligence research and legal analysis together to answer a question that courts and legislatures can no longer postpone.
It begins with consciousness itself: how the concept developed, why its definition remains contested, and what the leading scientific theories agree on. It then examines computational functionalism, the premise on which any possibility of AI consciousness depends, and the systems that exist today, from narrow tools to the general and superintelligent AI systems now being planned. Drawing on the latest evidence from inside large language models, including the consciousness and welfare assessments an AI developer has published, it asks what that evidence does and does not show about artificial consciousness.
The legal chapters take up legal personhood, AI rights, obligations and liability, and compare how legal systems have responded. Most, the EU AI Act among them, regulate AI as a product and stay silent on its status. Some American states deny AI legal personhood by statute. For animals, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the Constitutional Court of Ecuador have taken a third course, recognising sentience on structured scientific evidence without waiting for proof. The book argues that this third course offers the standard AI regulation will need, and closes with recommendations for AI companies and governments.
Written for lawyers, policymakers, researchers and students in law, philosophy and AI, this book offers a clear guide to one of the defining legal questions of the coming decades.

Victor López Juárez is an attorney at law and notary in Guatemala. He was awarded a full European Commission scholarship for the European Master in Law, Data and Artificial Intelligence, which he completed at Dublin City University, Ireland; Avignon Université, France; and Università di Pisa, Italy. He is certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals in AI Governance (AIGP) and European Privacy Law (CIPP/E). He is registered as a Legal Expert in New Technologies with the European Data Protection Board and serves on the Board of Directors of a US-based organisation, where he advises on AI Governance.
His work in technology law builds on a background in dispute resolution. He is Director General of the Arbitration Centre of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala, where he has worked for more than seven years, and has lectured on dispute resolution law at undergraduate and postgraduate level for more than five years. He is a recipient of competitive scholarships from the Alan Turing Institute in London, Sciences Po Law School in Paris, and the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg; has won awards at European legal advocacy competitions; and has received a Presidential Medal for legal excellence.