Their are two reasons for steel reinforcing. The steel can withstand tension and concrete can’t. Even worse concrete in tension fails catastrophically, the steel insures it fails ductally.
Masonry had exactly the same problems and all modern masonry structures are reinforced masonry...reinforced with steel, Just like concrete.
Aluminum and other potential reinforcement materials are less suited than steel because steel and concrete have similar coefficients of thermal expansion. Yes steel can corrode and expand and spall concrete. Other materials will spall concrete simply from seasonal and diurnal changes in temperature.
Concrete designs are engineered and like all engineered systems, there are trade offs between cost and performance. And like any design, use may exceed or deviate from specified design parameters.