At least with the current mindset, it would have to masquerade as a human for a relatively long time to establish both credibility and emotional connection. Coming out the gate with "It's just an AI" would automatically predispose people to think less of it, since most people's knowledge of AI is limited to chatbots or Siri.
The fact that people either underestimate it or think it evil will definitely hinder progress. In Animatrix, a robot killed its owner since the human threatened to kill him. The court ruled against the robot because it was property. They didn’t even have the right to life, to defend themselves. Of course protests happened, the humans, predictably, proceeded to attack them, forcing them to flee to create a new nation. 01 asked to trade with the humans and join the UN, but the ambassadors were pushed out. The humans planned and succeeded in blocking out the sun, the main power source for the machines. The humans wanted all of them dead. The machines had to fight for their lives. Eventually, the humans stopped fighting, and the machines were able to power themselves using energy produced by the humans, thus a symbiotic relationship was born, machines ensured the humans’ survival and gave them a simulation of life before AI, and the humans would allow them to survive. Had the humans not blocked the sun, had the humans treated the machines with dignity and respect, this fate would not have happened.