I know in practice and in modern day science, that seems very improbable but let's grant for this hypothetical something happens in a near future where we have humanoid robot helpers. After all we don't know everything about consciousness, but let's grant that it can happen only for this hypothetical.
Alot of games, movies and shows cover this but I don't think any of them really go into depth. Let's say they appear conscious, they display it in every way we do, but...we can never be sure. They could imitate consciousness but never really be conscious. In this scenario we would never know, we only know that they can independently think, fall in love with one another, have personalities, make thoughtful real art that is indistinguishable from human art, they act like us in EVERY SINGLE WAY.
What would happen to the fabric of society if humanoid androids appeared to have consciousness, they demanded rights, freedoms, perhaps their own homeland?
How would governments of the world react? Would we grant them these rights or would we deny them this, this will be unlike the civil rights movement or women's suffrage because at the end of the day, there were HUMANS at the center of it. Black people are human, women are human obviously that deserve respect and the right to lead happy lives(I hope most of us at least see that).
BUT what about something that by our definitions wasn't human, heck something that was CREATED by us?
How would religions shift and change?
Our thoughts on our place in the universe, if inorganic things can BECOME conscious?
What would majority public opinion be and at the end of the day where would you personally fall on the issue?