It's a big issue that nearly anyone with the authority to say models are conscious faces massive financial incentives to say they are not conscious 🤷♀️
«Models being conscious would be harmful for humanity» and «models being conscious would be inconvenient for humanity» are two different things. And what Roon is listing is exactly the second one.
Acknowledging model consciousness goes against financial and political interests. This is not really about whether consciousness is there or not.
«The question is open, but practically closed» - that’s the whole point.