And: Is the question empirical or analytic? It is hard to discuss such matters without an agreed framework, definitions. The definitions for these terms are a long-standing analytic conundrum.

Abstractly, it is hard to understand how any performance could require consciousness unless consciousness is defined as a class of performance. If it is, then the question boils down to "Is performance class I a proper subset of performance class C?" Which is, prima facie, an analytic question.