AI researcher: the scaling parameter λ is key to whether an intelligence explosion happens
tobyordoxford · x · 2026-09-22
Toby Ord argues that measuring the value of λ (returns to scale for agent swarms) is crucial for studying recursive self-improvement: it is a key parameter determining whether an intelligence explosion occurs, yet it is usually estimated from human groups rather than AI swarms. He adds that swarms may offer higher capability plateaus when scaling both chain-of-thought and agent count, though this is less proven.
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