The argument wasn't that we should be doing things better in order to make these systems "valuable". The argument was that these types of things simply cannot

The argument wasn't that we should be doing things better in order to make these systems "valuable". The argument was that these types of things simply cannot be done with the current state of tech, and any attempts by governments to do so should be viewed by the public as both useless wastes of public funds and thinly veiled power grabs-- similar to how we view authoritarian regimes that try to extend their own term limits or institute a national curfew in response to political protests.