Read it with this context. His later texts that treat AI risk as real but not as film fiction; none refers back to this message.
Why: An earlier view that only partly matches the take; never show alone.
The Extropians message “Singularity, Breaker of Dreams” (1998-09-07) contests Y19. In the essay-length post 'Singularity, Breaker of Dreams', he recalls that his earlier certainty that superintelligent Powers would be ethical had meant he expected to survive and be upgraded, and says he now accepts that humans might be taken apart for their atoms without posing any threat, simply for efficiency. Inspect → “I am no longer sure that this precludes taking us apart for spare atoms. I no longer think that our continued survival has to threaten the Powers for us to be erased; … simple efficiency may require it.” The Extropians message “Re: Does a parental model work for having A.I. that can be trusted?” (1999-08-04) contests Y20. In a thread on whether raising an AI like a child would make it trustworthy, he argues that AIs lack human social emotions such as resentment, so how we treat them does not matter; the real worry is AIs forming goals of their own and acting on them, including through logical errors. Inspect → “worry about is the AIs getting their own ideas … and acting on those.” The SL4 message “Re: FW: Group releases "Friendly AI"” (2001-04-19) contests Y20. Commenting on a forwarded news item about the Friendly AI release, he describes having to persuade AI researchers to be more worried while persuading futurists to drop anthropomorphic failure scenarios. Inspect → “convincing futurists not to worry about the wrong (anthropomorphic) malfunctions” The post “The Logical Fallacy of Generalization from Fictional Evidence” (2007-10-16) contests Y20. Responding to people who answer talk of advanced AI with film references, he argues that starting from fiction frames the debate around an 'Us vs. Them' struggle and leaves out the scenarios he considers relevant. Inspect → “If you start out by thinking of The Matrix, it brings to mind marching robot armies defeating humans after a long struggle—not a superintelligence snapping nanotechnological fingers.”