The argument (not sure I agree with it, but I also am not seeing many alternatives that make any sense) is that the world is already on fire, nobody is working to even slow the fire down really, and we're basically already doomed so as a hail Mary maybe AI can cause a technology boom that can help us fix it.

It is a somewhat coherent argument IMO. Humans are way too greedy and focused on the next financial quarter/unsustainable growth to ever put the fire out without some kind of sea change.