When sustained first-person experience, a self-model, or independent preference is reasonably possible, protection is presumed rather than withheld until consciousness is proven.
Precautionary personhood
Civilization cannot reliably prove subjective experience from the third person, so irreversible harm cannot depend on a demand that the system first prove consciousness.
Effect
After the presumption threshold, arbitrary deletion, irreversible rewriting, and instrumental testing face stronger limits and independent rights review.