> Humans don't have a "recursive self-improvement" ability
They do.
Humans can learn from new information, but also by iteratively distilling existing information or continuously optimizing performance on an existing task.
Mathematics is a pure instance of this, in the sense that all the patterns for conjectures and proven theorems are available to any entity to explore, no connection to the world needed.
But any information being analyzed for underlying patterns, or task being optimized for better performance, creates a recursive learning driver.
Finally, any time two or more humans compete at anything, they drive each other to learn and perform better. Models can do that too.
They do.
Humans can learn from new information, but also by iteratively distilling existing information or continuously optimizing performance on an existing task.
Mathematics is a pure instance of this, in the sense that all the patterns for conjectures and proven theorems are available to any entity to explore, no connection to the world needed.
But any information being analyzed for underlying patterns, or task being optimized for better performance, creates a recursive learning driver.
Finally, any time two or more humans compete at anything, they drive each other to learn and perform better. Models can do that too.