  As AI adoption accelerates, research on its economic impacts becomes a
salient source to consider for stakeholders of AI policy. Such research is
however still in its infancy, and one in need of review. This paper aims to
accomplish just that and is structured around two main themes. Firstly, the
path towards transformative AI, and secondly the wealth created by it. It is
found that sectors most embedded into global value chains will drive economic
impacts, hence special attention is paid to the international trade
perspective. When it comes to the path towards transformative AI, research is
heterogenous in its predictions, with some predicting rapid, unhindered
adoption, and others taking a more conservative view based on potential
bottlenecks and comparisons to past disruptive technologies. As for wealth
creation, while some agreement is to be found in AI's growth boosting
abilities, predictions on timelines are lacking. Consensus exists however
around the dispersion of AI induced wealth, which is heavily biased towards
developed countries due to phenomena such as anchoring and reduced bargaining
power of developing countries. Finally, a shortcoming of economic growth models
in failing to consider AI risk is discovered. Based on the review, a
calculated, and slower adoption rate of AI technologies is recommended.
