future machines could be more intelligent than any man, and it is possible that a sort of mechanical evolution could be introduced, using existing computers to design their descendents, and so on, generation after generation, getting a little more brilliant at every step. It is in fact a theoretical possibility that, above a certain level of complexity, any computer can design a better computer than itself; this was first pointed out by the late John von Neumann.

...whenever mechanical or inorganic brains have been discussed, there have been passionate denials that such automata could ever think creatively. Some of these objections, perhaps a majority of them, arise from conflicts with the religious beliefs of the individual. Other negative views, expressed in some cases by noted scientists, result from an interpretation of mechanical thinking as a blow to their ego... a resentment that any mere thing of metal could be superior in any way to a human brain. And yet our brains are comparatively badly organized, inaccurate, and (except for memory) slow. They were not evolved for the purpose of abstract thought, but developed slowly through millions of years as a product of the struggle for survival... Bearing these things in mind, surely it is feasible that we shall eventually build mechanical minds of superhuman thinking ability, just as we now build bulldozers of superhuman muscle power?

Cade, Other Worlds Than Ours (1966), pp. 213-214