Well, programs do have the ability to modify their own source code already (it's called reflection and/or self-modifying code). It's just not used very much because it makes things unpredictable and hard to debug.I disagree that conversing with a machine is absurd though. Of course, it is absurd now, because nobody has created an 'intelligent' machine yet. But if humans manage to keep researching AI for another, say 50 years, without blowing themselves up, I think we'll have created some sort of real intelligence. There is a lot of research going on in AI, cognitive science, neuroscience, etc... One successful researcher thinks we'll create some sort of intelligence within 5 years, but I think he's a little optimistic :)Animals and people are, after all, just machines made up of cells, ourselves. Conversing with each other isn't very absurd, IMO.   See 1 other reply