First of all, consciousness is very hard to pinpoint. But that doesn't mean we get to say for sure what in this universe has consciousness and what hasn't.

When it comes to AI having agency, AI's today have very limited agency but that's because they aren't very capable. With vastly more capable AI in the future, we will see much greater degrees of agency. They will be able to solve problems we couldn't even formulate adequately. There is no telling how such AI's will act and how they will be programmed and for what purpose. Most likely they will be programmed by other AI's. I understand that you're trying to alleviate unfounded fears. But with the accelerating capabilities of AI, all bets will be off.