Transformative AI refers to artificial intelligence advanced enough to precipitate change on the scale of the agricultural or industrial revolutions, fundamentally reshaping the economy, society, and the trajectory of civilisation. The term, used prominently in AI strategy and safety research, deliberately focuses on societal impact rather than on a specific architecture or a threshold of human-level cognition.
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- The framing is favoured in forecasting and governance because it sidesteps debates about consciousness or general intelligence and instead asks whether a system materially alters economic growth, power structures, or existential risk. It motivates much of the work on alignment, evaluation, and policy preparedness for high-impact AI.