I’m pretty sure MNT is added to the discussion because people here such as Eliezer and Annisimov and Vassar believe it to be both possible and a likely thing for AI to do.
Whether or not MNT is a likely tool of AI (I think it is), IIRC it is usually used as a lower bound on what an AI can do. This answers leplen’s objection that MNT is a burdensome detail—saying “AI could, for example, use MNT to take over the world”, is only as burdensome as the claim that MNT or some other similarly powerful technologies are possible.
Whether or not MNT is a likely tool of AI (I think it is), IIRC it is usually used as a lower bound on what an AI can do. This answers leplen’s objection that MNT is a burdensome detail—saying “AI could, for example, use MNT to take over the world”, is only as burdensome as the claim that MNT or some other similarly powerful technologies are possible.