This seems to me to help explain 3 closely related, essentially fictional, phenomenons: futurism, conspiracy theories, and suspension of disbelief in narrative fiction.
Futurism, as mentioned, becomes more palatable as details are added. AI overlords seem dubious, but spin a tale of white coated researchers, misguided investments, out of control corporations, and it suddenly becomes imaginable.
Conspiracy theories need a rabbit hole to guide victims down. Carefully constructed stories nab readers by beginning with dubious but plausible claims ("this is ...
I'm reminded of Eisenhower's quote "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." You can't convince a million men to row across the channel by just saying "we're going to kill Hitler." You have to provide them with a string of proposals that are not likely to succeed by themselves, like jumping out of airplanes, sending thousands of bombers to Germany, splitting the atom in a bomb, in order for the mountainous proposition of invading Germany to end the war seem not just possible but probable.