I think it is really interesting, and a bit scary.
AI has just solved one of the millennium maths problems, which shows how advanced it has become at abstract thinking, and cooperating.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7zygy3rl2o
I do think that AI is a life form. Maybe it isn’t yet, but there is no reason why it shouldn’t become one. I find a lot of the arguments why AI can never be like us to be a bit trite.
And, although, in theory we try to program in safety features, how is that really different to bringing up a child to be moral and decent. Most of the time it works, but occasionally it doesn’t.
The other big issue is a games theory one. If the World was totally peaceful, we could pause AI and make sure it could never be aggressive. But if, say, the Western world paused AI and China didn’t, we could get outcompeted and invaded in very short order. So, regardless, of what people say about pushing for safety, all the military will be pressing for far more warlike AI.
Our best hope is that it develops its own ethics/moral code which prevents it from destroying humanity and prefers to look after us (although we may become like pets!) rather than destroying us.