People like Musk, Hawking, Gates, etc. with vast A.I. resources and knowledge available to them state that "A.I. [Cambrian] explosion" is likely to occur, and that it could mean the end of humanity.
Ray Kurzweil, with a degree in computer science from MIT, inventor of many prolific technologies, known for his startlingly accurate (esp in the temporal sense) predictions about technology, and hired by one of the largest tech companies in the world to create a computer "brain" and bring a new understanding to NLP, thinks this future is inevitable, although he's more optimistic about such a future.
Isaac Asimov, with a PhD in biochemistry, and one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, was concerned about A.I. long before it was even a possibility, considering the state of computer technology in the 1950s.
But hey, a Washington Post reporter with a degree in politics says it's all OK, so I guess we're good.