As to point 1, we know of no other general intelligence other than human minds. In this case it would be nearly impossible to build a general algorithm that's not us.

This is not an accident. Language was not a separate thing from the human mind, it was a feedback loop from increasing capabilities. Language lead to writing, writing lead to an information explosion of digital data. Said information explosion has lead to a situation where language can now bootstrap itself and become a separate thing. We are and have created a biosphere for language based, um, life. With our sciences we have mapped out reality in language. Past molecules and atoms, past the particles that make particles down to fields. We have computer controlled just about everything. Every year the analog hole shrinks further.

I heard something to the effect of "Language has gathered enough information to escape its meat prison".

I call it the "Language as an SCP". It has a plan and we're not privy to it.