Is it possible to make a python program that can modify its source code

Question

I have just read an interesting page on wikipedia about ai boxing and there is a part where it talks about an AI that can modify its source code and i was wondering if it is possible and how to make a program that does that

Answer 1

So...[not hacking]...readers should (please) be aware these are official imports / programming patterns that all devs should know (e.g., unit testing relies heavily on mocking classes with monkey patchers)

The best search term is "self-modifying code" [SMC], where Wikipedia claims Python doesn't support SMC because eval() [exec, compile, changing disk source, ...] doesn't change memory + swapping function pointers doesn't count.

For SMC you want to change existing bytecode in-memory:
https://code.sololearn.com/crDsM8YZAUS0/#py

That's in-place, but let's say your AI wants to escape a loop it's trapped in...perhaps by creating an identical copy of itself, omitting undesirable controls and branching in some non-returning way. To self-inspect and prepare for this, it might want these standard imports (all work on SL):

ast, code, dis, inspect, marshal, trace, unittest

I have demos...but these resources may be more useful:

The Best Way to go About with Self Modifying Code/Code Generation?
* https://mail.python.org/pipermail/tutor/2012-July/090243.html

bytePlay module [instead of what I did]
https://wiki.python.org/moin/ByteplayDoc

* https://docs.python.org/3/library/unittest.mock.html#the-patchers

By the way, zapping an evil AI by injecting a "return" sounds like a neat movie idea.

Answer 2

I think this question is similar but in C.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7447013/how-to-write-self-modifying-code-in-c