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94 people, organisations and other records · 122 relationships · 34 claims about a valueEverything recorded up to the chosen year, whether or not still in effect · Undated records included
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The Extropians message “Re: AI Prime Directive” (1998-09-15) contests Y15. Rob Harris argued that an AI not programmed to want or need anything would do nothing spontaneously and so would be safe; he agrees that rebellion is an anthropomorphic stereotype but answers that such an AI would do nothing at all, since every choice requires a goal, so an AI needs at least one goal. Copy claim link
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Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 1998-09-15 · publication Role Contesting, Earliest located Register (kind of text) Nonfiction Engagement Engages a premise. Under the message-level rule, the passage, read with the paragraph, message or dialogue turn it belongs to, gives a reason against the premise that a system can be highly capable without having goals or optimising for outcomes. Scope and limits Premise addressed: A system can be highly capable without having goals or optimising for outcomes. He accepts Harris's point against anthropomorphism. The next paragraph wants the initial goal to be one the AI could have derived itself, part of his early objective-morality view (later abandoned; see ‘Sufficient intelligence brings good values’, Y02). The argument that capable action requires goals recurs in his 2008 post ‘Dreams of Friendliness’.
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Re: AI Prime Directive (Extropians mailing list) ↗ Extropians mailing list · 1998-09-15
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Source excerpt “It won't do anything at all, internally or externally - not if you've designed it properly, so that making any choice requires a goal.” Location in source message body, paragraph beginning 'I do have to point out one minor consequence'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-07
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Archive HTML as served, retrieved 2026-10-07 (SHA-256 031d6e7ac16052238e565b059dd854a853978cfac63d6faa0b30adad12ae3ef7); quoted lines excluded when reading the author’s text. The served archive shows later URL rewriting and does not authenticate historical bytes. Archive at extropians.weidai.com. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-07 Language English (en) Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, “Re: AI Prime Directive”, Extropians mailing list, 1998-09-15. 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 T15-e1. The quotation (24 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 031d6e7ac16052238e565b059dd854a853978cfac63d6faa0b30adad12ae3ef7) when checked on 2026-10-07. 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 disputes the proposition or a premise it depends on. The record documents the text’s position, not who is right.
Date. Archive author index lists the message as "1998-09-15" under "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky". Sent header: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 09:20:52 -0500.
Record ID yk-y15-extropians-1998-09-15-yudkowsky-2411-c