Recursive Self Improvement - Is AI About to Start Improving AI?

27/09/26 11:00 Filed in: Technology | Business

What happens when AI starts building the next generation of AI?

We spend a lot of time talking about what AI can do for us.

But there is a much bigger question emerging: What happens when AI starts helping to improve the technology that creates AI?

That is the idea behind Recursive Self Improvement (RSI).

AI systems are already being used to write code, run experiments, analyse results and contribute to AI research. We are not yet at a point where AI is independently redesigning itself and creating increasingly capable successors without human involvement.

But the boundary is moving. And that raises some fascinating questions. Could AI eventually improve AI research faster than humans can?

What happens to human oversight when AI becomes an increasingly active participant in its own development? Could the same AI systems that accelerate capability also help improve AI safety and alignment?

And what could this mean for CIOs, CTOs and technology leaders trying to plan for a future where the underlying capabilities of AI could themselves be accelerating?

In this Inspiring Tech Leaders episode, I explore the rise of Recursive Self Improvement, how it relates to AGI, the potential economic impact, the challenges around safety and governance, and what it could mean when AI begins to play a bigger role in creating the AI that follows it.

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