the problem with asking "is it useful" is that we imagine there's a neutral answer that everyone can agree on

even though we only ask it for things like "are nuclear weapons useful? are are cars useful? are guns useful?"

it's not really a discussion about the technology, it's a discussion about personal views of the world, politics, and the tradeoffs people are willing to make

utility requires a political framework, and every discussion of usefulness is a proxy for people's value judgements