"imagined by the author as a combination of whatever a popular science site reported"
I've heard this argument from non-singulatarians from time to time. It bothers me due to the problem conservation of expected evidence. What is the blogger's priors of taking an argument seriously if it seems as if the discussed about topic reminds him of something he's heard about in a pop sci piece?
We all know that popular sci/tech reporting isn't the greatest, but if you low confidence about SIAI-type AI and hearing it reminds you of some second hand pop reporting then discounting it because of the medium that exposed you to it is not an argument! Especially if you priors about the likelihood of pop sci reporting being accurate/useful is already low.
I don't think that's what is meant by the phrase. I think the author is asserting that it seems to them that some of the stuff put out by the website shows the general trends one expect if someone has learned about some idea from popularizations rather than the technical literature. If that is what the author is discussing then that is worrisome.
As the SIAI is gaining publicity more people are reviewing its work. I am not sure how popular this blog is but judged by its about page he writes for some high-profile blogs. His latest post takes on Omohundro's "Basic AI Drives":
Link: worldofweirdthings.com/2011/01/12/why-training-a-i-isnt-like-training-your-pets/
I posted a few comments but do not think to be the right person to continue that discussion. So if you believe it is important what other people think about the SIAI and want to improve its public relations, there is your chance. I'm myself interested in the answers to his objections.