There will always be people who find the very idea of thinking about things from an ethical perspective offensive; that doesn't mean they're right. A lot of valuable discussion in this space is drowned out by people shouting down attempts to explore nuance and shine a light on the grey areas [1].
I'm not asking for censorship or a government crackdown; I do think that it's irresponsible to dodge the issues raised, act as though they are settled, or dismiss any concerns as anti-progress. As you say, there is no clear societal consensus, and there are strong arguments in both directions; what I want to see is those discussions taking place, in good faith, and those issues being acknowledged, rather than ignored.
[1] https://twitter.com/emilymbender/status/1532699418281009154
https://openai.com/blog/better-language-models/
So individuals working on a technology like this have no clear societal consensus to use as a guide when making the decision. Strong arguments can be made in both directions.