The academics are correct, and they are very serious. Your "serious middle ground" is itself a rather extreme viewpoint, and that's just not how this debate should be defined. Here's how I'd define it:

* Extreme pro-LLM: sure these tools are ethical, super useful, and should be adopted by virtually everyone into most workflows.

* Moderate middle ground: these tools are largely unethical and extremely problematic on socio-economic & philosophical grounds—we should publicise these numerous issues and craft strict regulation around their use.

* Extreme anti-LLM: we should sabotage the data centers powering these existential threats to humanity and the environment. If governments won't outlaw the technology, we'll take matters into our own hands.

FWIW, I'm somewhere on the spectrum between moderate and extreme anti-LLM.