The philosopher Susan Schneider points out that consciousness may be superfluous, or even a hindrance, to a superintelligent AI.
“[T]he architecture of an advanced AI may contrast sharply with ours. Perhaps none of its computations will need to be conscious. A superintelligent AI, in particular, is a system which, by definition, possesses expert-level knowledge in every domain. . . What would be novel to it? What task would require slow, deliberative focus? Wouldn’t it have mastered everything already? Perhaps, like an experienced driver on a familiar road, it can use nonconscious processing. . . Over time, as a system grows more intelligent, consciousness could be outmoded altogether. The simple consideration of efficiency suggests, depressingly, that the most intelligent systems of the future may not be conscious. . . Viewed on a cosmic scale, consciousness may be just a blip, a momentary flowering of experience before the universe reverts to mindlessness.”
Schneider, Susan. Artificial You (pp. 34-37). Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition.