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The SL4 message “Re: FAI: Collective Volition” (2004-06-01) contests Y30. In a reply to Samantha Atkins on Collective Volition, he gives his best guess that the world will end through an unFriendly AI, because powerful AI looks easier to build than a benign one. Copy claim link
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Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 2004-06-01 · publication Role Contesting 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 the default outcome is good. Scope and limits Premise addressed: The default outcome is good. Informal; 'smiley faces' alludes to his standard example of a misgeneralised reward. Answering "The earth is NOT scheduled to vanish in a puff of smiley faces", his own earlier phrase quoted back to him; the elision removes the hedge "I don't know the future, but I know the technical fact that".
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Re: FAI: Collective Volition (SL4 mailing list) ↗ SL4 mailing list · 2004-06-01
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Source excerpt “it looks easier than I would have hoped to build things that go FOOM, and harder than I would have hoped to make something sorta nice … Maybe the Earth isn't scheduled to vanish in a puff of smiley faces, but it's my best guess.” Location in source message body, paragraph beginning 'I don't know the future, but…'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-07
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Archive HTML as served, retrieved 2026-10-07 (SHA-256 802a4b6da51e23aaccc7108b37dbe6e3665b24680fd4759d80b39ae42b4d3587); quoted lines excluded when reading the author’s text. The served archive shows later URL rewriting and does not authenticate historical bytes. Archive at sl4.org. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-07 Language English (en) Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, “Re: FAI: Collective Volition”, SL4 mailing list, 2004-06-01. 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 T30-s3. The quotation (45 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 802a4b6da51e23aaccc7108b37dbe6e3665b24680fd4759d80b39ae42b4d3587) 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 "Tue Jun 01 2004 - 06:01:06 MDT" under "Eliezer Yudkowsky".
Record ID yk-y30-sl4-2004-06-01-yudkowsky-0406-8905-c