Question

Yuval Noah Harari claims that within a few years AI will become the dominant ruler of nature. He argues that the role of human beings as the absolute rulers has come to an end. Broadly speaking, he bases this on the fact that AI can create new ideas, learn things easily, and has all the functions of a human being at a much higher level—except for consciousness. 
In general, does that sound plausible to you? Because on the face of it, the facts he describes are correct, and in my view the whole question is whether human consciousness is what makes all the difference and causes man to be the absolute ruler, or whether the human functions are enough—and if those functions exist, then will AI defeat humanity?