It can be a curse if you are forced to do what you don't feel like doing. (This can happen, you know...)
I can't see that case happening any more often than once in a very long while. During wars, scientists are used to develop weaponry. That's pretty much the only time I can see people being 'forced' into it, and even that was decades ago. I can't see that happening again.

I think it's a gift. I don't get why it wouldn't be. It's the intelligent people that run the world, and I don't think it should be any other way. As for the people that say it's a curse, even if a person is extremely intelligent, they have the option of using their intelligence or not. If they wanted to, they could just as easily pretend they're not intelligent at all. Though I can't see why anyone would do that.