“Understanding” and “purpose” are helpful abstractions for discussing human-like computational agents, but in more general cases I don’t think your definition of self-modification is carving reality at its joints.
ETA: I strongly agree with everything else in your comment.
“Understanding” and “purpose” are helpful abstractions for discussing human-like computational agents, but in more general cases I don’t think your definition of self-modification is carving reality at its joints.
ETA: I strongly agree with everything else in your comment.