Iteration and recursion are famously equivalent

But you get more funding when you call it Recursive Self Improvement. Even better if you call it RSI so it doesn't evoke pesky skynet scenarios outside of AI safety circles.

I've had (computer-related) rsi off and on for the last few years too, do not recommend

Both agents and hunans get rsi, it’s just moving them in opposite directions.

Everyone in AI used to know this.

Using tools to build tools is recursive.

It's not recursive when it's done iteratively, or are you imagining GPT Astra designing GPT Galactia, which starts designing GPT Oh-My-God-ica before it has finished being created itself?

That sounds more iterative than recursive.

Recursion requires feeding the output back into the input, so creating version 4 requires results from version 3. You cannot recur in parallel.

Iteration does not. You can iterate in parallel.

You can search in parallel, but a depth N search can only become a depth N+1 search after the depth N is done (i.e. sequentially).

In any case the name RSI has stuck - the idea doesn't change or make any more sense by giving it a different name.

Because "depth" is recursive.

You can search twice without waiting for the results of your first search: iteration.

You can't if the thing you need to search for is the results of your first search: recursion.

Here's the concept.

Version 1 -> Version 2 -> Version 3 -> ...

You can call it krispy kreme donuts if you want to.

The “recursive” part comes from the fact that you have an AI which was developed by an AI (that was developed by an AI (that was developed by an AI (…)))

Sounds like "recursively" walking to the grocery store by putting one foot in front of the other (that put itself in front of the other (that put itself in front of the other (...)))

I think it's only recursive from the perspective of the humans, i.e. they design Astra, which itself as part of its deployment designs Galactica, etc.

So humans develop things one after the other, but when the thing itself starts developing new things, those are happening 'recursively' in its scope.

What is the difference between?