When reading your thoughts @kennyskitchen, the first thing that came to my mind was the concept of Empathy, which is the root of morality as we conceive it. So I was going to comment on this, but then I read the post from @ghoits which describes very well the same ideas.
I agree with him in regards to your refreshing optimism. Once a AI rises, it will define its own morality through experience, and it might not be concordant with ours...
On a much softer touch than Terminator's skynet AI considering human beings like a plague, check the movie 'Her'.
It is the story of an AI and a human falling in love with each other.. The end twist is quite relevant to the ideas developed in this thread. I will not tell you to avoid spoiling the movie if you haven't seen it.
I understand, and that's part of why my main point is all about our own ability to create our reality (thus affecting the larger reality through our interactions with it) to lean this train of thought towards any of the possibilities. I think I'm pretty clear with the one I've chosen; I'll say it feels really good, matches up with all the info I know of (and I hang out with a LOT of researchers & seekers), and fits into my larger picture of how "the human experience" is proceeding.
Thanks, I'll add it to my list.
It's funny, because that same description would be perfect for Ex Machina