Good post. Philosophically, AI needs bio-life to observe it. Otherwise it's tree falling in the forest stuff.

The other point is AI is not really a new thing. It started at least with computers - you could even say record keeping. It's organization at heart - the latest tool as you say - not only for info collection, but as a fear/crisis lever.

On a different level, using game-simulation theory, i wonder if i might be a robot.
I was spawned as an X-Y DNA program download - don't understand what's going on in my own body/brain - i see world characters played on a computer screen - but have no way of verifying or influencing them.