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Yudkowsky’s post of 2008-12-01 says recursion is what happens when you hand an AI the object-level problem of redesigning its own cognitive algorithms. Copy claim link
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Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 2008-12-01 · publication Role Articulation Register (kind of text) Nonfiction Scope and limits The post distinguishes recursion that rewrites the cognitive level from human self-improvement through knowledge.
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Recursive Self-Improvement ↗ Overcoming Bias · 2008-12-01
Archived copy, captured 2019-04-27: Recursive Self-Improvement ↗
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Source excerpt “Recursion is the sort of thing that happens when you hand the AI the object-level problem of “redesign your own cognitive algorithms”.” Location in source Paragraph beginning "Recursion is the sort of thing that happens"
Machine-checked · 2026-10-06
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Text checked in the post’s first stored version through the LessWrong GraphQL API on 2026-10-06; content version 1.0.0. Now hosted on LessWrong. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-06 Language English (en) Archive copy Open archived copy, captured 2019-04-27: Recursive Self-Improvement ↗ . Captured 3799 days after the recorded publication date. An archive copy shows only what the archive retrieved on 2019-04-27. It does not prove what the page said earlier, and it can differ from the copy checked on 2026-10-06.Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, "Recursive Self-Improvement", Overcoming Bias (now hosted on LessWrong), 2008-12-01. Reuse No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution. Check notes Checked in the first stored version on 2026-10-06. Status and meaning Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor . An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.
Relation. A passage of the document meets the proposition’s criterion. The record documents what the text states, in its register (fiction and satire are labelled); it is not evidence that the proposition is true and implies no influence on or from another text.
Date. LessWrong posting time 2008-12-01T20:49:11Z of the imported Overcoming Bias post.
Record ID ts-a3-yudkowsky-2008-rsi