It is *a* natural endpoint, not *the* natural endpoint.

We don't much care for the ant colony in the way of the highway we're building, but for some reason we do care about the rare bats in the way of the railway.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3dep92x054o

As regards the moral compass: we may not know for sure how to make a completely correct artificial conscience, but (unlike consciousness where we don't have the slightest clue which way's up) it's not pants-on-head-crazy to think we're heading in the right direction for one.