Current AI will NOT create sentient beings

For a device/program to be sentient, it needs to understand most of what the physical things in the world are, in terms of their physical description/attributes AND the physical rules that govern thing with depending on their attributes AND the rules about how things affect each other's form and how they can interact according to their attributes. 

THEN it needs to understand itself in the same terms.

THEN it is self aware.

Current AI is pattern recognition,  which is a valuable skill in terms of the above steps but is only a small step along the way.

The other reason AI will never be self aware by design (it migut happen by accident though) is because having AI self aware is pointless, what use does it serve?  I can't think of any.  Currently AI doesn't understand how it is different from everything else, you ask it and it would give you an answer then completely ignore what it's just said.  It's here to solve OUR problems not understand itself.  Getting AI to contemplate itself is a dangerous waste of time (so that probably means 1000s of people are working on it lol knowing mankind's self destructive tendencies).  Unfortunately the start of that road is asking AI how it could improve itself (ie. Become even more useful (define useful here) to us.