Claim and evidence Close ×
De Garis's essay of 2001 states that, for him, the human species being wiped out is a lesser tragedy than artilects never being born, and that denying the creation of the first true artilect would be a "cosmic" tragedy. Copy claim link
Copy claim reference
Machine-checked Stated in source Supported
Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source; Context: primary · 1 source
Date 2001-02-26 · publication Records dated 2001 → Wording attested 2026-10-31. Wording read in the current Kurzweil Library page (address ?p=80464, redirected), retrieved 2026-10-31; the KurzweilAI.net copy of 2001 and its captures were not read or compared. Role Articulation Register (kind of text) Nonfiction Scope and limits The author's own valuation, stated alongside his description of himself as both "Cosmist" and "Terran" and his statement that he raises the alarm so humanity may stop the artilect if it chooses. Not advocacy of any act against people.
The evidence 03 primary source Supports the claim
Building Gods or Building Our Potential Exterminators? ↗ The Kurzweil Library (writingsbyraykurzweil.com), copy of an essay 'Originally published February 26, 2001 on KurzweilAI.net' · 2001-02-26
Copy source reference
Cite the original source Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.
Copy APA
Download BibTeX Download RIS Download CSL-JSON
Source excerpt “For me, the tragedy of seeing the human species wiped out is less significant than not seeing the birth of the artilects.” Location in source paragraph 'So which am I, a Cosmist or a Terran?'
How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher
Machine-checked · 2026-11-01
Source details and check notes Authors Hugo de Garis Version Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31 (SHA-256 a34a9603eb235db90653e91a1458ccd578852df35c93c77f886d4681237df8ea). Current Kurzweil Library page (address ?p=80464, redirected), stating the KurzweilAI.net publication date. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-31 Language English (en) Attribution Hugo de Garis, “Building Gods or Building Our Potential Exterminators?”, 2001-02-26. Reuse No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution. Check notes Candidate pack passage, machine succession, scale and acceleration (research/heterodox-thought). The quotation (22 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. No human editorial review. primary source Context only
Building Gods or Building Our Potential Exterminators? ↗ The Kurzweil Library (writingsbyraykurzweil.com), copy of an essay 'Originally published February 26, 2001 on KurzweilAI.net' · 2001-02-26
Copy source reference
Cite the original source Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.
Copy APA
Download BibTeX Download RIS Download CSL-JSON
Source excerpt “So which am I, a Cosmist or a Terran? I’m both.” Location in source same paragraph
How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher
Machine-checked · 2026-11-01
Source details and check notes Authors Hugo de Garis Version Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31 (SHA-256 a34a9603eb235db90653e91a1458ccd578852df35c93c77f886d4681237df8ea). Current Kurzweil Library page (address ?p=80464, redirected), stating the KurzweilAI.net publication date. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-31 Language English (en) Attribution Hugo de Garis, “Building Gods or Building Our Potential Exterminators?”, 2001-02-26. Reuse No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution. Check notes Candidate pack passage, machine succession, scale and acceleration (research/heterodox-thought). The quotation (11 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. The author's self-description, quoted for the qualification; not support for W02. No human editorial review. primary source Supports the claim
Building Gods or Building Our Potential Exterminators? ↗ The Kurzweil Library (writingsbyraykurzweil.com), copy of an essay 'Originally published February 26, 2001 on KurzweilAI.net' · 2001-02-26
Copy source reference
Cite the original source Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.
Copy APA
Download BibTeX Download RIS Download CSL-JSON
Paraphrase The author writes that to deny the creation of the first true artilect would be a far greater tragedy than the human species being wiped out, a tragedy he calls 'cosmic'.
Location in source paragraph 'So which am I, a Cosmist or a Terran?'
How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher
Machine-checked · 2026-11-01
Source details and check notes Authors Hugo de Garis Version Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-31 (SHA-256 a34a9603eb235db90653e91a1458ccd578852df35c93c77f886d4681237df8ea). Current Kurzweil Library page (address ?p=80464, redirected), stating the KurzweilAI.net publication date. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-31 Language English (en) Attribution Hugo de Garis, “Building Gods or Building Our Potential Exterminators?”, 2001-02-26. Reuse No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution. Check notes Candidate pack passage, machine succession, scale and acceleration (research/heterodox-thought). The paraphrase is Selekoa’s, written from the text retrieved for the candidate pack; it is not a quotation and was not machine-matched. No human editorial review. Status and meaning Editorial status. Machine-checked . Machines found this record and checked it against its sources; no person accepted it individually. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.
Relation. A passage of the document meets the proposition’s criterion. The record documents what the text states, in its register (fiction and satire are labelled); it is not evidence that the proposition is true and implies no influence on or from another text.
Date. Date stated by the Kurzweil Library copy (writingsbyraykurzweil.com, ?p=80464): 'Originally published February 26, 2001 on KurzweilAI.net.'
Record ID ht-w02-degaris-2001-building-gods