Anthropic says it is getting close to recursive self-improvement: AI that develops, tests and trains the next version of itself.
Is AI at the point where it can build itself? Are we at the moment where one computer can build the intelligence of another? That is what recursive self-improvement is, and Anthropic has said they are getting close to it.
Recursive self-improvement is the idea that a computer using AI can do the development, the testing and the information feeding on the next version of itself, faster than people have been able to. At that point, AI's improvement curve becomes self-driven rather than driven by people.
Some people describe this as the moment AI reaches the singularity. It is also the moment AI can start tailoring itself for an infinite number of use cases. If it wants to learn and specialize in one thing, it can spin up a branch and train along those lines.
So if Anthropic is right, and recursive self-improvement is coming soon, what does that mean for how people interact with systems? What does it mean for the capabilities of AI? Is what we see today just the very beginning of what is possible?
AI that improves itself, writes itself and grows itself has been a story of science fiction and horror films for a long time.
That leaves a question we need to wrestle with. When AI can begin improving itself, whether you think that is good or bad, what does it mean for human learning? How does it shape the way we develop as people, as individuals and as a society?