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

Standardized testing measures memorization, not intelligence or potential.

You're confusing what's being measured with how well it's measured. Yes, standardized tests tap memory, but that's because memory IS intelligence—it's how you retain and apply knowledge. A surgeon who can't remember anatomy kills patients. A programmer who can't recall syntax is useless. The real problem isn't that tests measure memory. It's that you're assuming intelligence exists independent of what you can actually retrieve and use. It doesn't. The kid who aces the SAT despite poverty has demonstrated something real: the ability to learn and perform under pressure. What's your alternative? Gut feeling? Teacher bias? Those are far worse measures of potential than any standardized test.