Yeah, and also (light spoiler) over the course of the show, the system(s) in question go from something more like advanced data analysis/surveillance AI to a full-blown AGI scenario - and it's the only show ever that actually discusses this topic in plausible, realistic way. That's why the quote changed by the end, because (among also the change of perspective), the question of how the computer system itself feels about you became both valid and relevant.
> There are some bouts of introspection, especially early on, which he uses as justification for installing the backdoor in the first place, but on the whole he's adamant that none of this is his fault.
Well, at least until later, where I'd say his perspective evolved towards fear and eventually immense guilt ("selling the world for a dollar"), which made it hard for him to consider the possibility that what he created might want, and perhaps have a right, to live. Finch is the opposite of the "oops I guess but really I've done nothing wrong" kind of billionaire.