Actually, that was my biggest problem with the entire article. It's a false dichotomy to assume that consciousness and intelligence aren't the same thing, if one cannot meaningfully articulate how they differ. If the inner machinations of an entity's intelligence are indistinguishable from an "inner life", then it is reasonable to conclude that such machinations are an inner subjective life. I.e., being intelligent is itself an experiential subjective inner life. Therefore, intelligent beings, however that intelligence operates, are experiencing their external environment (which is the same as saying they have an "inner life").

The author seems to assume that experiencing the world is somehow separate from the mechanisms of that experience. Just because he feels like a little homunculus doesn't mean he is. If we had nerve endings in our brains allowing us to feel the thoughts we were having separate from thinking, then I don't believe this artificial distinction would be as prevalent.