Can AI ever be truly conscious?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Can AI ever be truly conscious?". Your opponent's style: Sam Harris

Cities should ban cars downtown: streets are for people, not parking lots.

You're romanticizing chaos. Ban cars and you've killed downtown. Small businesses depend on customers who drive in. Workers can't access jobs. Elderly people and disabled folks aren't taking the bus with groceries. You've just created a ghost town for the wealthy who live nearby while everyone else shops at the mall. Look at what actually happened in places that tried this: foot traffic up initially, then businesses fail because people shop where parking exists. Portland, San Francisco, they're gutting downtowns while suburbs thrive. The real solution isn't ideology, it's making transit actually work first, then people voluntarily abandon cars. You're putting the cart before the horse and calling it progress.