Yeah, it scares me as well. I was talking about this to someone else, and they made an interesting point. If we (U.S) don't develop AI at all, then someone else will, maybe russia or china. And to be honest I'd rather have AI in the hands of someone who holds western values.
It's a global problem I suspect. Certainly it appears the Japanese are way ahead of the US anyway . They've had robots among the masses for quite some time I hear.