The concept is based on at least 2 false premises.

I am not aware of a social contract that says we must grant conscious beings rights.

Not aware of a shared, concrete definition of consciousness either, which means no way of deciding whether AI is conscious.

Close to half of us don’t even feel compelled to grant rights to humans for just being humans.

We grant rights to animals, because we love/like them. We enjoy experiencing them. We find them pretty etc. There is a ton of undisputable warm fuzzy.

Humans have rights because they won’t stop being a pain in the back about it. Those that stop lose their rights.

Plain as day for me. Not sure what I am missing or whether I am just a simpleton.