Model Training Is a Massive Industrial Process, So 'Spontaneous' RSI Talk Gets Pushback
binarybits · x · 2026-09-18
Blogger binarybits questions the term "recursive self-improvement (RSI)": he suspects "artificial superintelligence" and "spontaneous RSI" will prove as overhyped as past buzzwords, since model training is a massive industrial process requiring thousands of GPUs and hundreds of humans—hardly "spontaneous."
He does concede the term has value in a narrower sense: distinguishing a model that spontaneously modifies its own weights or achieves software progress as a means of self-improvement, from the AI-accelerated R&D we already see today, which is human-directed.
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