Whilst I agree that it's definitely not something to be taken seriously, I think you've missed the point and magnitude of the prospective punishment.
As you say, current groups already punish those who did not aid their assent, but that punishment is finite, even if fatal. The prospective AI punishment would be to have your consciousness 'moved' to an artificial environment and tortured for ever. The point being not to punish people, but to provide an incentive to bring the AI into existence sooner, so it can achieve its 'altruistic' goals faster.
Basically, if the AI does come in to existence, you'd better be on the team making that happen as soon as possible, or you'll be tortured forever.