I find the AI safety stuff so incredibly cringe.

They are scared of what they don't know. All new tech has that property, like electricity, cell phones, microwaves and even writing. This is especially the case in a fiat system where Luddites can not just FUD everything, but steal from everyone else to do it.

The doomerism is a projection. They feel their own influence and market power diminishing and project that out onto the rest of society. But of course, that's not how it works. AI will be a great tool for humanity, but it can easily get stifled like nuclear energy through regulation. We must not let that happen.