I don't have any definitive answers. But I think it might be helpful, as a first step, to decide what life is, and whether or not life is necessary for consciousness. The assumption for many is that we _are_ matter with consciousness somehow added in. But, though matter is clearly necessary, I suspect the "we are matter" view is the wrong perspective. After all, most of the matter in our bodies is replaced several times in our lifetimes. How, then, can that matter "be" us? I think it's more accurate to see ourselves as _events_, as something that is _happening_ to matter. Similar to fire. One then can view all life and evolution as a _single chain of closely connected events_ beginning with self-replication and culminating (so far) with consciousness. The question of whether we "can create consciousness in silicon" might hinge on whether or not our _inventions_ are an integral part of that self-sustaining chain of events, or not.