Yup. Intelligence explosion is pretty much irrelevant at this point (even if in fact real). Given the moral weight of the consequences, one doesn't need impending doom to argue high marginal worth of pursuing Friendly AI. Abstract arguments get stronger by discarding irrelevant detail, even correct detail.

(It's unclear what's more difficult to argue, intelligence explosion, or expected utility of starting to work on possibly long-term Friendly AI right now. But using both abstract arguments allows to convince even if only one of them gets accepted.)