The point is "just having fun" is the way you get to AGI, if it’s possible at all. All the obvious paths are explored, so only those who truly love the work for

The point is "just having fun" is the way you get to AGI, if it’s possible at all. All the obvious paths are explored, so only those who truly love the work for its own sake will pursue it. If you thought that any researcher has a clue what they’re doing, I’m afraid you’ve been mistaken. We have hypotheses and observations from past experiments, but no one has any idea whether something will work until they try it. So by discouraging them from trying, you’re decreasing the likelihood that any useful work will be done at all.