In my understanding of the Chinese Room example, the resolution to the argument is that the *human* may not understand Chinese, but the *system as a whole* can be said to understand it.
With this in mind, I think asking whether ChatGPT *in and of itself* is "conscious" or has "agency" is sort of like asking if the speech center of a particular human's brain is "conscious" or has "agency": it's not really a question that makes sense, because the speech center of a brain is just one part of a densely interconnected system that we only interpret as a "mind" when considered in its totality.
With this in mind, I think asking whether ChatGPT *in and of itself* is "conscious" or has "agency" is sort of like asking if the speech center of a particular human's brain is "conscious" or has "agency": it's not really a question that makes sense, because the speech center of a brain is just one part of a densely interconnected system that we only interpret as a "mind" when considered in its totality.