Absolutely, I personally would be more inclined to relate your example to the workings of the brain! There are some schools of thought that suggest we are all brain. I'm attempting to create the idea that our whole being is inherently conscious, inherently aware and that this being then interacts with different 'software' and 'programming' such as our gut, our hearts, our brains (all contain 2 way information streams). My suggesting of particles being conscious would say that all of life is conscious, now of course what programming they run on top of this consciousness is what's going to give us the vast diversity of life!

"That is our software, that what we call intelligence. But is it?"

Well, I would say yes with contingencies. It is a default level of intelligence that has been developed and programmed into us for millennia. However, this intelligence can be adapted, removed and replaced. I also believe as I alluded to above to our multiple forms of "intelligence" outside of brain/logic/programming.

But also. If we suggest particles are inherently conscious then if/when we build effective AI it will, in this context, be inherently conscious. It will just have a different operating system in which to experience this world! Some would call this unnatural (On a small level I think I agree). However, we humans are natural, and we created it. I wouldn't call a beehive unnatural so why is a machine?