transformer

CEFRB2

/tɹænsˈfɔːmə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

Examples

A transformer converts alternating current to direct current for use in electronics.
Transformer is a deep machine learning model based on the encoder–decoder network architecture and is used primarily in the field of NLP.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Also pronounced

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

A neural network architecture composed of layers of attention which takes sequences of tokens (representing text, images, audio, or other modalities) as input.
A static device that transfers electric energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling; primarily used to transfer energy between different voltage levels, which allows the most appropriate voltages for power generation, transmission and distribution...
Something that transforms, changing its own or another thing's shape.

In context

While initial reports Thursday traced the glow to a transformer explosion or a fire, Mr. McGee said there was no fire, and there were no transformers involved.
Privately, many at Google have bristled at criticism of its AI credentials, in particular given that it incubated the underlying technology and released it publicly in the 2017 transformers paper.
The transformer helped machine-learning systems improve at a much faster pace, leading directly to last year’s release of ChatGPT and the attendant boom in interest around AI. (Transformers are the “T” in ChatGPT.)

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The word in print, with each source given in full.

While initial reports Thursday traced the glow to a transformer explosion or a fire, Mr. McGee said there was no fire, and there were no transformers involved.
2018 December 28, Michael Gold, “How an Explosion (Not Aliens) Turned New York’s Night Sky an Electric Blue”, in The New York Times
Transformer is a deep machine learning model based on the encoder–decoder network architecture and is used primarily in the field of NLP.
2021, Lei Chen, Deep Learning and Practice with MindSpore, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 116
The transformer helped machine-learning systems improve at a much faster pace, leading directly to last year’s release of ChatGPT and the attendant boom in interest around AI. (Transformers are the “T” in ChatGPT.)
2023 January 31, Casey Newton, “Instagram’s co-founders are back with Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text”, in The Verge
Privately, many at Google have bristled at criticism of its AI credentials, in particular given that it incubated the underlying technology and released it publicly in the 2017 transformers paper.
2025 May 24, Stephen Morris, Melissa Heikkilä, Cristina Criddle, “Defending the high ground”, in FT Weekend (Big Read section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7

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From transform + -er.