I wouldn't be persuaded to "let the AI out" by that argument. In fact, even after reading about the AI box experiments I still can't imagine any argument that would convince me to let the AI out.
For some time now I suspect that the argument that convinced Carl Shulman and others was along the lines of acausal trade. See here, here and here. Subsequently I suspect that those who didn't let the AI out of the box either didn't understand the implications, haven't had enough trust into the foundations and actuality of acausal trade, or were more like General Thud.
Basically this: "Eliezer Yudkowsky writes and pretends he's an AI researcher but probably hasn't written so much as an Eliza bot."
While the Eliezer S. Yudkowsky site has lots of divulgation articles and his work on rationality is of indisputable value, I find myself at a loss when I want to respond to this. Which frustrates me very much.
So, to avoid this sort of situation in the future, I have to ask: What did the man, Eliezer S. Yudkowsky, actually accomplish in his own field?
Please don't downvote the hell out of me, I'm just trying to create a future reference for this sort of annoyance.