Recursive Criticality of AI Self-Improvement

Abstract

arXiv:2609.00137v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: AI is increasingly used in the R\&D process that produces future AI systems. We study the conditions under which this feedback becomes self-amplifying. Our model describes how the rate of AI capability growth depends on baseline research productivity, recursive feedback, and the increasing difficulty of research progress. We derive a recursive reproduction number, $\mathcal{R}_{\mathrm{AI}}$, that determines whether improvements are amplified or da