The emergence of Transformative Artificial Intelligence (TAI) may fundamentally change the world as we know it – perhaps even sooner than you think. Imagine 100 years of scientific and technological progress, coupled with explosive economic growth – all in the span of 10 years. While it’s hard to predict what exactly this means for animals, one thing’s for certain: unless advocates adapt, our current business-as-usual strategies risk becoming obsolete. This session explores how best to future-proof our movement by shifting priorities toward interventions that remain robust across a wildly different technological and political landscape.

🧩 Central questions

TAI timelines: What evidence supports the claim that AI progress is accelerating and unpredictable, making TAI a near-term possibility?
Not in Kansas: In what ways might the post-TAI world fundamentally differ from the world we know today?
Strategic obsolescence: Which existing advocacy strategies (e.g. consumer boycotts, legislation) are least likely to be effective across different post-TAI scenarios?
Future-proofing: Which advocacy startegies might be robustly positive across different post-TAI scenarios?

🧭 Learning objectives

Understand: Define Transformative AI (TAI) and explain the evidence for rapid, unpredictable technological development.
Assess: Identify key institutional, economic, and otherwise structural assumptions of current advocacy strategies, and evaluate their plausibility across different TAI scenarios, while noting areas of uncertainty.
Reason: Apply your reasoning to advocacy theories of change as well asto your own impact trajectory.
Next steps: Adapt your own impact trajectory (e.g. focus, career plan, research agenda) accordingly.

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Resources

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Required readings

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Pre-session exercises

Please spend 20-30 minutes completing these two exercises.

You can write your responses in bullet point format if that’s easier.
Submit your responses in the weekly Slack thread created by your facilitator in your channel at least 24 hours before your regularly scheduled meeting.
Leave at least one comment on somebody else’s response.

Is TAI really around the corner?

[150 words] The advent of transformative artificial intelligence may fundamentally and irreversibly change the strategic landscape for animal advocacy.

First, review the basic argument for strategic adaptation in the face of potentially near-term TAI:

Speed and uncertainty: AI development is fast and hard to predict.
Near-term TAI: If (i), then TAI may be coming soon.
Weird futures: The world after TAI could be radically, fundamentally different from today’s world in terms of power structures, institutions, markets, and more.
Strategic obsolescence: If (iii), then current advocacy strategies may not work in post-TAI world, insofar as they assume business-as-usual.
Futureproof now: If (iv), then advocates should adapt their strategies to accommodate potentially near-term TAI.

∴ Conclusion: Advocates should adapt their strategies to accommodate potentially near-term TAI.

Your task is to analyze this argument:

Which specific premise(s) (i-v) do you find the most compelling or well-supported?
Which do you find the most questionable or dubious?
Which crucial considerations, if any, might be missing?

Explain your reasoning, making reference to key concepts where relevant.

Futureproofing advocacy?

[150 words] Jamie Harris proposes 6 strategic responses for animal advocates to consider when operating in an era of looming, transformative change: