For starters, few consumer systems have the ME wired up to a supported Intel NIC to provide the remote access functionality that is usually seen as the scariest feature among those related to the ME. The processors are usually not vPro-enabled models so the firwmare will refuse to enable those features due to Intel's product segmentation strategy. And even if all the right hardware is in place, I think a system still needs to be provisioned by someone with physical access to turn on those features.

For most consumers, the main valid complaint about the ME is that it's a huge pile of unnecessary complexity operating at low levels of their system with minimal documentation. Anything fitting that description is a bit of a security risk, but the ME is merely one of many of those closed firmware blobs.