Kurzweil and Bill Joy have held public and private dialogues on this issue and agree that technology will and should progress and that its dark side needs active concern.

Two-part claim: (1) Kurzweil and Bill Joy held dialogues on this issue both publicly and privately; (2) they concur that technology will and should progress and that its dark side needs active concern. True if evidence shows both the public and private dialogues occurred and that Joy's stated views align with the described agreement. Mostly true if the dialogues and broad agreement are documented with a minor detail off (e.g., only public or only private dialogue clearly evidenced). Mixed if roughly half holds (e.g., dialogues documented but agreement on the characterization unclear or disputed by Joy). Mostly false if only a fragment holds. False if there is no evidence of such dialogues or Joy is on record disagreeing with the described consensus.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Testimony of Ray Kurzweil on the Societal Implications of Nanotechnology Writings by Ray Kurzweil (testimony presented to U.S. House Committee on Science) · 8 April 2003 Own record

   “Bill Joy and I have dialogued on this issue both publicly and privately, and we both believe that technology will and should progress, and that we need to be actively concerned with the dark side.”

2. E2 Testimony of Ray Kurzweil on the Societal Implications of Nanotechnology Writings by Ray Kurzweil (testimony presented to U.S. House Committee on Science) · 8 April 2003 Own record

   “Even so, I do find fault with Joy’s prescription: halting the advance of technology and the pursuit of knowledge in broad fields such as nanotechnology.”

3. E3 The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology Bioethics.ac.uk (book review) · June 2007

   “Simply interpreting Joy’s comments as broad relinquishment is a misinterpretation of what he is suggesting and was never Joy’s intent. Rather, Joy is keen to limit development of the technologies that are too dangerous, a view that is also supported by Kurzweil.”

4. E4 Are We Becoming An Endangered Species? Technology and Ethics in the 21st Century the Kurzweil Library (briefing paper, published on KurzweilAI.net) · 8 November 2001 Own record

   “He even suggests that, ultimately, we may need to halt the wheels of progress and stop the quest for scientific advances so that humanity and life itself may simply continue to exist.”

5. E5 Testimony of Ray Kurzweil on the Societal Implications of Nanotechnology writingsbyraykurzweil.com · 8 April 2003 Own record

   “Bill Joy and I have dialogued on this issue both publicly and privately, and we both believe that technology will and should progress, and that we need to be actively concerned with the dark side.”

6. E6 Are We Becoming An Endangered Species? Technology and Ethics in the 21st Century the Kurzweil Library (KurzweilAI.net) · 8 November 2001 Own record

   “He even suggests that, ultimately, we may need to halt the wheels of progress and stop the quest for scientific advances so that humanity and life itself may simply continue to exist.”

7. E7 The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology bioethics.ac.uk · 1 June 2007

   “Simply interpreting Joy’s comments as broad relinquishment is a misinterpretation of what he is suggesting and was never Joy’s intent.”

8. E8 The 21st Century: a Confluence of Accelerating Revolutions Writings by Ray Kurzweil (KurzweilAI.net republication) · 15 May 2001 Own record

   “I do take issue with Bill Joy’s conclusions. Particularly, I feel that his prescription for relinquishing broad areas of technology like nanotechnology is unrealistic, unfeasible, not desirable, and basically totalitarian.”

9. E9 The 21st Century: a Confluence of Accelerating Revolutions Writings by Ray Kurzweil (KurzweilAI.net republication) · 15 May 2001 Own record

   “As Rob and I were talking, he, J. Storrs Hall, and Ralph Merkle were chiding me for the conversation I had with Bill Joy in a bar in Lake Tahoe, which, I guess, started Bill on a course that he’s still on.”

10. E10 The 21st Century: a Confluence of Accelerating Revolutions Writings by Ray Kurzweil (KurzweilAI.net republication) · 15 May 2001 Own record

    “And I think the dangers that Bill Joy has talked about are real, but I don’t think relinquishment is a viable or responsible direction to move in.”

The only evidence that public and private dialogues took place comes from Kurzweil's own writings and testimony. E1 and E5 repeat the claim, and E10 mentions a bar conversation with Joy in Lake Tahoe. No independent source documents those dialogues. On whether the two agree, the evidence conflicts. The independent review (E3, E8) says Joy aimed to limit development of technologies that are too dangerous, not broad relinquishment, and says Kurzweil also supports that view. Kurzweil's own pages, however, describe Joy as calling for broad relinquishment or a halt to progress (E2, E4, E9), and none of the evidence records Joy's own statement of his views, so the claim cannot be settled.