More than asking when the AI will be able to improve itself, it is perhaps better to focus on our ability to verify. The problem will arise if this does not grow together with the ability to generate new ideas and hypotheses. And if we really need a global threat, we already have one, less fascinating but more concrete: climate change
From ecological collapse to murderous asteroids, the modern world is filled with a multitude of existential risks. We have an innate difficulty in weighing them
More than asking when the AI will be able to improve itself, it is perhaps better to focus on our ability to verify. The problem will arise if this does not grow together with the ability to generate new ideas and hypotheses. And if we really need a global threat, we already have one, less fascinating but more concrete: climate change