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Finally, someone who gets it.

The author starts out with “everyone is confused about this” and then proceeds to speak based on his own confusion.

Decades ago, I was enthralled with the prospects of AI. I read a lot about it, pontificated about it ... then I took a class in it.
Artificial Intelligence is stupid. It’s nothing more than searching data for a specified criteria. Yes, it gets interesting if you throw Google-sized data at it, use very clever heuristics to speed/limit searches, and can ask interesting questions of it, but in no way is it _intelligent_.
An entire programming career later, I still hold to that view.

I seriously don’t grasp why really smart people are so scared of AI. Yes, it’s complex & influential. Yes, building machines capable of traveling, identifying individuals, and killing them is potentially a bad idea. Yes, building a system which aggressively turns everything into paperclips probably won’t end well. BUT - it’s not some mystical entity, not a self-aware sentient artificial life form, not some evil-minded being that _wants_ to do you harm ... it’s a machine, no more than a scaled-up music box.

And maybe that’s the thing:
Most people encounter a music box, and are enthralled that it can play Ave Maria in such a moving manner.
The music box is merely plucking notes in a programmed sequence.
It’s the maker who caused that sequence, and the listener who perceives it as music.