[kibwen]

From a practical (rather than moral) perspective, the reason that scientific ethics are a thing in the first place is so that the public does not sour on scientific endeavors and view them as illegitimate. If you eschew ethics, then, like Dr. Frankenstein, eventually you will have the public beating down your door with torches and pitchforks, regardless of the results you achieve.

Which is to say, if you care about advancing science in the long term rather than merely in the short term, you must care about ethics. Accusing others of naivete here is a bad look.

[aydyn]

From a practical perspective, nobody cares unless it affects them.

Ethics? AI research today is plainly not ethical, yet its full steam ahead.

Whats a bad look is some idealized notion that everything can be perfect and ethical and there are no gray areas. That is plainly magical thinking.

[hnfong]

From a practical (rather than moral) perspective, as long as the research is approved by the government and the government is authoritarian, there won't be any public beating down your door with torches and pitchforks.