Another friend of mine told me to leave well enough alone, and
that I could stir up more problems by replacing things.

Your real estate agent was trying to keep the house from burning down,
and gave you a good hint. Your friend told you to just sit tight, since
your house is not on fire yet.

AL wiring (as you will or have seen from your googling) is tricky and
particular. You DO need special everything: special wire nuts, special
outlets, special switches, special installation procedures, special
precautions when mixing different metals, etc. And this DOES matter,
its not just an obscure code issue, or a marketing ploy, or whatever.

I don't have AL myself, so I don't know all what is involved. If you
think you are up for it, do your homework, then replace all the
switches, outlets, wire nuts, and everything else necessary, to get
everything to be safe. If you don't feel up to it, find an electrician
that knows AL to take a look through, make recommendations, then fix
eveything needing fixing.

As others have said, you might just have a few of the wrong type of
outlets, but otherwise properly-installed AL wiring. Or you might have
a real dangerous and extensive mess on your hands.