In this analogy it's not your coworker. It's some layman (despite self-declared expertise) standing outside and claiming he's spotted a major security issue based on guesses about how such systems will work

From what I have observed the reaction of most people working in the AI to "What do you think of Yudkowsky?" is "Who?". He's not being ignored out of pride or spite, he just has no qualifications or real involvement in the field