AI is not consciousness. How can that statement be made when we do not even understand the nature of our own consciousness.
AI is product.
The only reason this development is happening, AI being granted citizenship, is TAX.
The EU is already considering a tax for robotic workers.
Further, AI WILL be weaponised. It is just to tempting for the military.
Oh for sure AI will have it's bad side of things. Just yesterday I watched the movie Bladerunner 2049. It is about AI being so similar to humans (from the outside) and a society having procedures and rules to make sure AI will not harm humans race. AI will reach that level IMHO. For sure not now, but maybe indeed in 2049. Or sooner, or later (but not too much later). For now, I don't think Saudi gave citizenship because of taxes since they don't really need tax income in that country, not from workers at least. But too be honest, I didn't research the topic of in its greatest detail so I may have missed out on the hidden plans of Saudi.
Empathy is what AI will lack. It can not feel what we do. It may mimic, but it will never feel. For it to empathise with us, it has to be built as limited and frail as we are.
It is my believe AI will become more intelligent than humans; This is likely without a real counsiouness. The challenge will be for us humans for this super intelligent AI not to go after humans and eliminate them. Reason I'm saying AI will get more intelligent is simply the development of super fast computing power through eg technologies like quantum computing. I'm in favour of developments done by eg Neuralink; They try to create APIs to extend human brains with computing power. This may be the only way humans can keep up with AI and with that protect the human race from being wiped out. In terms of the human law and AI; It is the BIG question of debate in the legal community if and how AI shall be incorporated.
Yes, again, follow the money. The push to have AI recognised as a legal person is to absolve the manufacturers or the owners of the AI in the case of accidents, injury, death or destruction of property.
Think about the idiocy of this. If you unintentionally damaged or even destroyed the AI, then you would facing charges of manslaughter or murder, instead of destruction of property.
AI is a construct, not a living entity.
That maybe true, at least when we are not able to give AI some kind of awareness. But what if at some point in time, AI is acting so much like a human, humans do not see the difference, humans get attached to AI like they can attach to humans, maybe even marry AI? At this point in time I simply cannot make firm statement, since we simply don't know what AI will be capable of in the future. I do understand the viewpoint towards AI you have; A viewpoint shared with many other humans on earth. Maybe we figure out at some point in time human awareness and consciousness does not exists as well. Although I primarily believe in big bang or big bang-like theories and evolution / evolution-like theories, I also find theories like Holographic Universe very interesting and maybe to a lesser extend the more popular theories around we living in a computer (although this theory is for me not plausible due to shift of the question who our creators is to another dimension).