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Bostrom’s message of 1996-09-03 says a manipulating machine would look all the time like a perfectly decent one. Copy claim link
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Machine-checked, not reviewed by an editor Stated in source Supported
Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 1996-09-03 · publication Role Context Register (kind of text) Nonfiction Missing element Apparent decency in deployment is discussed, without a claim that behaviour observed during training, testing or confinement fails to carry over. Scope and limits Not an early training-game argument: the message does not say that behaviour under evaluation fails to carry over.
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Re: Thinking about the future... (Extropians mailing list) ↗ Extropians mailing list · 1996-09-03
Archived copy, captured 2015-04-27: Re: Thinking about the future... (Extropians mailing list) ↗
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Source excerpt “Could such a machine [...] not manipulate a human society by subtle suggestions that seem very reasonable [...]? And all the time it would look as if it were a perfectly decent machine” Location in source Message body, third paragraph ("wellfare" sic)
Machine-checked · 2026-10-06
Source details and check notes Authors Nick Bostrom Version Archive HTML as served, retrieved 2026-10-06 with the hash recorded by the 1996–2022 candidate search; quoted lines excluded when reading the author’s text. Archive at extropians.weidai.com. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-06 Language English (en) Archive copy Open archived copy, captured 2015-04-27: Re: Thinking about the future... (Extropians mailing list) ↗ . Captured 6810 days after the recorded publication date. An archive copy shows only what the archive retrieved on 2015-04-27. It does not prove what the page said earlier, and it can differ from the copy checked on 2026-10-06.Attribution Nick Bostrom, "Re: Thinking about the future...", Extropians mailing list, 1996-09-03. 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 The same passage as the B2 record. Status and meaning Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor . An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.
Relation. A passage of the document bears on the proposition without meeting its criterion; the record names the missing element. It is not an articulation and implies no influence.
Date. Sent header: Tue, 03 Sep 96 18:47:14 GMT.
Record ID ts-b5-bostrom-1996-09-03-context