Futurist Ramez Naam pens skeptic's takedown of recursive self-improvement and the intelligence explosion
TheZvi · x · 2026-09-30
- Zvi Mowshowitz shares a guest post by Ramez Naam, the futurist who foresaw the solar and battery revolutions, offering a skeptic's take on recursive self-improvement (RSI).
- RSI is a staple belief in AI circles: as AI improves itself, capabilities "take off" (FOOM) toward a Singularity, and many industry figures believe the moment is near and are racing toward it.
- Naam wrote the piece after lengthy private debates with Zvi; published on Noahpinion's blog (Sep 2026), with art generated by GPT-6.
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