When discussing AIs being sentient it is rarely discussed what being sentient means. It should be defined what that means and how it can be proven. I wouldn't know how to prove any human being being sentient if I cannot rely on conversational methods, as apparently that is not a accepted way, as shown by the recent Google AI researcher controversy.

However, I can make a simple computer program which is self-aware at least according to some definitions (a loop with reflective access to it's own variables, input/output with external systems and self-modifying code).