Also, if you need to convince people to live in such circumstances then a little convenience goes rather far so that also needs to be considered.
Do not be so flippant, next time.
A huge majority of tech advancements are driven by supply rather than demand. Capitalism and modern economics pushes companies to build whatever they can market and sell, they aren't designing new products and tech because consumers already asked for it.
The things you listed are "wants." Perhaps we could say that washing machines has turned into a need, in much the same way crude oil has. What would the world have been had we tamed nuclear power before oil was commercialized?
> You are eager to decide what is useful and what is not
I think GP is eager to decide what is net beneficial, which is a tradeoff between usefulness and cost (monetary, social, environmental.)
I don't personally care that much about Earth. It's a rock in space, and it will continue existing with our without a functioning ecosystem, but I try to be conservative with my actions, so that the people who do care, may continue enjoying it.
At this moment, AI is a "want," not a "need."
Or does the desire for technology leads to advancements that meet our wants? Wants versus needs, and desires versus demands get confusing sometimes.
> It concerns me when some individuals attempt to control others' resource usage,
From a psychological point of view that's understandable. And it does portend an ugly authoritarianism. From a realist standing, it's inevitable if resources are limited. Right now we seem to be limited by the heat capacity of the planetary ecosphere. To avoid that becoming an open conflict I think we need to enrich the debate to talk about appetites rather than needs.
The demand for technology leads to advancements that meet our needs. As we continue to innovate, we must focus on consuming more energy rather than less.
You are eager to decide what is useful and what is not. Can you predict the future? Can you predict the full impact of technologies? Can you see second, third and forth order effect? Likely not. For instance, many may not have anticipated the significant role smartphones play today.
It concerns me when some individuals attempt to control others' resource usage, potentially leading to authoritarian rule driven by fear. Such actions might result in adverse effects before any noticeable climate changes occur in the near future.