There is simply no demand for more transparency to prove the effectiveness of the SIAI and its objectives.
Are you sure? I imagine there are many people interested in evaluating the effectiveness of the SIAI. At least I am, and from the small number of real discussions I have had about the SIAI's project I extrapolate that uncertainty is the main inhibitor of enthusiasm (although of course if the uncertainty was removed this may create more fundamental problems).
Please read this comment. It further explains why I actually believe that transparency is important to prove the effectiveness of the SIAI. I also edited my comment above. I seem to have messed up on correcting some grammatical mistakes. It originally said, there is simply no talk about more transparency....
Taken from some old comments of mine that never did get a satisfactory answer.
1) One of the justifications for CEV was that extrapolating from an American in the 21st century and from Archimedes of Syracuse should give similar results. This seems to assume that change in human values over time is mostly "progress" rather than drift. Do we have any evidence for that, except saying that our modern values are "good" according to themselves, so whatever historical process led to them must have been "progress"?
2) How can anyone sincerely want to build an AI that fulfills anything except their own current, personal volition? If Eliezer wants the the AI to look at humanity and infer its best wishes for the future, why can't he task it with looking at himself and inferring his best idea to fulfill humanity's wishes? Why must this particular thing be spelled out in a document like CEV and not left to the mysterious magic of "intelligence", and what other such things are there?