What is Consciousness?

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We reside in our consciousness. Every action and thought flows through our consciousness. Every pain, every pleasure; every question, every answer. Every curiosity we have, every invention we have achieved, every philosophical quests originates from our consciousness.

Our consciousness drives what we think, what we do, what we fantasize about, our emotions, our perspectives, our anxieties, our biases. It is our playground; we can go places with our thought that our physical being cannot. It is also our hell, taking us to dark places and on psychological rollercoaster rides of our own makings.

It accompanies us in our every waking hour. It only shuts down when we fall asleep; and even then, our consciousness dreams.
Everything starts with our consciousness. Without consciousness, there is nothing.
I think, therefore, I am

But how does it work? What is it for? Why do we have it? Can we recreate consciousness in AI? What is consciousness?