As far as I know, the reason computers are not self aware is because of how they are "wired together" so to speak. Their architecture is entirely ill suited for awareness, as far as we know. I say as far as we know, because we only really know of one general type of architecture that has ever developed self awareness, and that is our own. This same architecture is also seen in most terrestrial creatures. Not the specific construction of the brains, but the fact that there *is* a brain in the first place. Its the network of neurons that makes us what we are. Specifically, its the fact that that network is constantly changing, adding new connections, pruning old ones, and adjusting the "weight" of others. We were not designed for a specific purpose. We exist as we are now because our current construction was the most recent variation on whatever came before that provided a significant advantage over the competition. It just so happens that self awareness seems to provide a pretty significant evolutionary advantage. sentience wasn't necessarily the goal, it was a means to an end. Computers on the other hand, are designed for specific tasks. Based on the requirements we have for them, we design a system that fulfills those needs, we construct that system to those specific criteria, and the process is completed, with no possibility for change afterwards. (I am referring to the hardware here, not software. "machine learning, neural networks, and AI" all refer to software emulating (on some level) the processes that our brains perform at the hardware level that enable them to adapt.) (Also, I think "artificial intelligence" should almost always be called "simulated intelligence" because we are not really creating an intelligent system. We are nowhere close to that. We are creating a system that appears intelligent, and within its area of specification it might even achieve that, being able to learn and adapt. But outside of its specialization, it is totally useless.)
