I know the comic is just making a joke, but in a more designed based focus derived off of sci-fi? To give the simulated consciousness pleasure from achieving whatever goal it was designed to do.

I am against the current "AI" because of the resource cost of usage on a massive scale. We have yet to solve the problem of working together as a species, and we are dumping immense amounts of resources into a faulty product that is not even intelligent. The primary goal currently is to further automate jobs to increase profit margins.

I think the only area where machine learning has made actual accomplishments is in research. https://vilmate.com/blog/nobel-prizes-2024-how-ai-transformed-scientific-achievement/