How do you handle the existential crisis of our works being digital and transient versus having an actual, physical product?
Well this topic is very subjective, but I'll chime in...
Basically: You should be programming because you like programming - Not because you like that people like your program, or that it might immortalize yourself somehow - Or because people might use your program forever and will remember you by it
You can say the same for every profession: You're the best doctor in the world and you healed millions of people. Great. 100 years later all those people are still dead anyways. What was the point?
Basically everything is temporary in the end, and everything is going to be forgotten. Seeing your job as a programmer as part of your identity and your applications as proof of your existence or digital legacy is pretty much pointless
Isn't that basically what "real learning" is as well? Basically you're born as a baby, and you take input, and eventually you can replicate it, and eventually you can "talk" for example?
Same here, how is that different from "real learning"? You're born into a racist family, in a racist village where everyone is racist. What is the end-result; you're probably somewhat racist due to racist input - until you might unlearn that, if you're exposed to other data that proves your racist ideas were wrong
If a human brain is basically a big learning computer, why wouldn't AI eventually reach singularity and emulate a brain and beyond? All the examples you mentioned of what it can't do, is just stuff it can't do yet