Found this about a week ago and am loving it. Almost all of my time is spent in Python or LaTeX, and having either ipython or bash open in a small window just a keystroke away is brilliant!
Grad student in Cognitive Science, here. My focus is language, but consciousness is an ongoing side interest.
The answer: Yes and no, depending on what you mean by "consciousness".
If you mean something like "access to internal states" (and maybe reportability thereof), then yes. Arguably there are extant, albeit crude, versions of this form of machine consciousness.
If, on the other hand, you mean something that starts to look like qualia (i.e. "raw feels"/"what's it's like"/"the hard problem"/etc cf. the Chalmers references already made), then no.
Of course, my "no" essentially echoes Dan Dennett's, in that I don't think people are conscious in this way, either. I suspect a lot of our "feelings" are internal post-hoc stories (made possible by enabled by command of private language) that rationalize/create causal attributions for the physiological correlates of stress ("four Fs" situations).
That being said, I could be wrong, and finding a way to get at these hypotheses empirically would be a genuine advance, whether they were supported or refuted. So by all means pursue this...as someone else pointed out, it's likely the "final" answers won't be known in your lifetime, and if it brings you fulfillment in your lifetime, then giv'er.
As for where to apply, there are loads...some have already pointed out several researchers (Hofstadter, Koch, etc.), so you could always apply where they are. There's also UCSD, UArizona, Carleton University (in Canada), etc...
I wouldn't create a business. I'd write a program that could learn (text-based) language. Then I'd write it up and submit it to Computational Linguistics. Then I'd die in obscurity as someone took my idea and figured out how to monetize it.
I can't say anything about leaving the continent, but I'll definitely back Montreal as a great place to go. I lived there for 12 years and am looking forward to returning (now in Ottawa for grad school).
As was mentioned, the rents are reasonable (I've got a friend living in a 5 1/2---2 bed, living/dining/kitchen for about $550/month, and he's walking distance to downtown), there's a good tech culture (lots of speech & language related stuff, web companies, game studies, etc.), and the city itself is great---a mix of the best bits of North American and European culture...you can find stuff to do 24hrs/day no problem). Also, the girls are smokin'.
As for language issues, I know people who are born & raised in Mtl and don't speak any French (beyond "oui", "non", "bière", "poutine"). There's a street called St-Laurent that more or less divides the city into eastside/westside. If you're on the west side, you can use English with no fear. Yes, you may run into a French Québecois who's an ass and tells you off, but it's really rare (more common in the east, though).
I smoked about a pack a day from ages 17 to 30 (started out of a combination of peer pressure and curiosity). Tried half-heartedly to quit a few times (N.B. quitting for a girl typically will NOT work). I ended up quitting for good because of a minor health scare (I was lugging some heavy stuff up a LONG hill and wasn't doing such a great job oxygenating...I more or less passed out).
I didn't have a terrible time quitting. Had one cigarette about two months after at a party, and that was it. Stopped having cravings after a few more months.
Nonetheless, I MISS smoking terribly, and still identify as a smoker. Not only, or even mainly, the social aspect. My favorite smokes were usually walking down the street alone thinking about stuff, or else coding at night (yes, my room got to smelling pretty gross...a side "benefit" of smoking is that it wastes your olfaction pretty badly). I loved the ritual of taking out a smoke, digging for a light, the first deep draw & exhale.
The current vilification of smokers makes me pretty mad. I get that it affects other people, but probably not as badly as alcohol, on a widespread social level.
I've also smoked pot and hash a bunch over the years, although I quit those as well a few years ago. The paranoia, as they say, will destroy ya.