How??? I don't know what kind of observations don't look the same with or without proto-consciousness. What would we see, or not see, only if proto-consciousness is real, or isn't?
Can we list all the different information processing systems within us, and goes through how's thru all interact? And compare it with all the information systems within apes? And various other animals?
Can we build artificial consciousness comparable to ours by giving it enough information processing systems that interact in the necessary ways? (Regardless of the presence of proto-consciousness.)