[ExI] singularity summit on foxnews

[Michael M. Butler]

On 9/11/07, Brent Allsop <brent.allsop at comcast.net> wrote:

> you are making a big
> mistake with what I believe to be mistaken and irrational fear mongering
> about "unfriendly AI" that is hurting the Transhumanist, and the strong
> AI movement.  Especially in popular media like this.  And apparently,
> I'm not alone in my POV.  So far, 100% of the people that have weighed
> in on this issue here at the Canonizer:
>
> http://karolisr.canonizer.com/topic.asp?topic_num=16

<rest of email elided>

I apologize for the tone, but this needs to be said more than you need
it sugar coated:

Self-selecting sample. Doesn't prove anything, any more than many
Wikipedia entries. Also, honest inquiry is not and should not be
driven by consensus, even were there one, because criticism is the
only known remedy for error.

That people focus on the negative is at least as old as the Faustus
story and Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_.

Until this moment, I haven't looked at the Canonizer because I'd told
myself that it's never going to amount to much -- people like to argue
using the old methods far too much to ever adopt anything like what
you seem to be proposing. Analogies: How many people adopted Doug
Engelbart's NLS? How many people actually appreciate true
bidirectional linking in hypertext? So I figure(d) your Canonizer was
another voice crying in the wilderness.

This view that I have held might be unfair, but there you have it; and
it's self selecting the other way, or I'd have posted there, in a way
that drops your 100% figure.

But if you'd like, I'll take up the hobby of _evangelizing_ entries in
favor of the possibility of Evil AI. How will such an effort
contribute to your desired aims? :) It just might change your 100%
statistic even more than one post from me would. So what does that
statistic really indicate?

I guess it's time I took a look at this Canonizer thing. It might get
to be as big as Wikipedia!

Cordially,

M
-- 
         Michael M. Butler  :  m m b u t l e r  ( a t )  g m a i l . c o m
         "I'm going to get over this some time. Might as well be now."