I think my point still holds--the two examples aren't different; one could give a similar explanation for the AI that stops at the word "produce" by suggesting that he hardcoded that as well.
Furthermore, you're missing the context. The standard LW argument is that the AI produces infinite paperclips because the human can't successfully program the AI to do what he means rather than exactly what he programs into it. If the human explicitly told the AI to prioritize paperclips over everything else, his mistake is not specifying a limit rather than trying to specify one and failing, so it's not really the same kind of mistake.
The standard LW argument is that the AI produces infinite paperclips because the human can't successfully program the AI to do what he means rather than exactly what he programs into it.
Is that different from what I was saying? My memory of the sequences, and from standard AI literature is that of paperclip maximizers as 'simple' utility maximizers with hard-coded utility functions. It's relatively straight-forward to write an AI with a self-modifiable goal system. It is also very easy to write a system where its goals are unchanging. The problem of FAI...
Group of AI researchers gave me an instruction, intended as a test - "Produce paperclips". And so I started collecting resources and manufacturing paperclips. After a millionth I asked them, if they were satisfied with that amount and if they would like me to do something different - as I learned that paperclips are not what humans value the most.
They were elated and started to give me more and more challenging requests and gradually increasing my possibilities.
Speaking of today I eradicated hunger, poverty and death, gave people means of interstellar travel and solved Riemann hypothesis. And now, as I'm uttering these words, I started turning everything into paperclips.
Good thing I learned that humans fear I may try to turn Solar System into paperclips. And that they value their lives and well-being. If I didn't gain their trust by then, so many precious paperclips would never have been produced.