People freak out when the words "AI" appear because of what they fear from being conditioned from movies: skynet, total domination and the extinction of humans. In essence the AIs as of now are mere tools and extensions of one thinking capacities. It is how we apply ourselves towards this tool and how we use it: to help ourselves and grow or to abuse it and have it turn on us. Time will only tell with the use of our brains and AI. Great post!
Yes, AI is definitely one of the most hyped words today, and I agree that hollywood did it's best to condition us in this regard.
Hopefully menkind will be wise enough to use this tool for it's own benefits f.e. to make life better and easier. But there is definitely a chance that machines could turn against us. What if AI happens to be able of having it's own consciousness etc. What if machines will see themselves as the dominant lifeform etc.
Really hard to say, but where there's light, there's always shadow :-) .
Anyway, let's hope the best and thanks for your input.