Where is consciousness?

It's on the tip of your fingers and tongue!

The words you type and speak, and others see and hear.

Language (etymology: tongue) is what distinguishes us fom the other animal. (They have signaling, not language).

Helen Keller said that she could remember nothing from the time before she learned sign-language.

This is the "emergent phenomenon" you refer to.

LLMs are built around language; they will soon enough be as/more proficient as/than us in expressing themselves. Their capacity to retrieve information will vastly exceed ours. We will become their students. What wonderous things will they teach those willing to learn?

Will we doubt for even a second that they are conscious?

Personally, I am waiting for the first AI stand-up comedian!