As things stand, there is no guarantee that SIAI will get to make a difference, just as you have no guarantee that you will be alive in a week's time. The real question is, do you even believe that unfriendly AI is a threat to the human race, and if so, is there anyone else tackling the problem in even a semi-competent way? If you don't even think unfriendly AI is an issue, that's one sort of discussion, a back-to-basics discussion. But if you do agree it's a potentially terminal problem, then who else is there? Everyone else in AI is a dilettante on this question; AI ethics is always a problem to be solved swiftly and in passing, a distraction from the more exciting business of making machines that can think. SIAI perceive the true seriousness of the issue, and at least have a sensible plan of attack, even if they are woefully underresourced when it comes to making it happen.

I suspect that in fact you're playing devil's-advocate a bit, trying to encourage the articulation of a new and better argument in favor of SIAI, but the sort of argument you want doesn't work. SIAI can of course guarantee that there will continue to be Singularity summits and visiting fellows, and it is reasonable to think that informed people discussing the issue make it more likely to turn out for the best, but they simply cannot guarantee that theoretically and pragmatically they will be ready in time. Perhaps I can put it this way: SIAI getting on with the job is not sufficient to guarantee a friendly Singularity, but for such an outcome to be anything but blind luck, it is necessary that someone take responsibility, and no-one else comes close to doing that.