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While I understand where you are coming from, one remarkable breakthrough can change that. That does sound absurd, but we would also look like fools as a humanity for being aware of this potential problem and at least not looking into it.

Technology has been exploding at a remarkable rate, I'm fine with things slowing a little for the sake of the next 1000 years of humanity.

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Sure, but that's true in essentially all kinds of scientific research. I personally think physics research is more likely to produce an existential threat than AI research is. Fusion bombs are already pretty close to a world-ending discovery, possibly already across the line. And that is probably not the worst physicists have to offer in the future, either.

Curious for a reference on fusion bombs. If you are referring to laser inertial, that takes buildings full of lasers.

I was just thinking of regular old hydrogen fusion bombs aka thermonuclear bombs.

Those require a fission trigger and have existed for a long time. The proliferation nightmare would be if we could figure out how to build one that didn't need fission, but I have never heard even a hint of success with that. If there is, it's classified -- and in this case for good reason.

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