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| By Chris Graebe |
This isn’t the first time I’ve addressed AI, and I promise it won’t be the last.
I’m always going to keep you up to speed on the topic whether it’s good, bad or ugly. And I’m always going to look for startups in the space worthy of your investment dollars.
By the way, that startup pool is some 5,500 deep in the U.S. alone — all formed between 2013-2023 with at least $1.5 million in funding to date. That’s according to Stanford’s 2024 AI Index Report.
Great news, but it’s not the primary reason for this article.
Today, I want to talk about AI’s unfortunate impact on jobs, and how you can turn a potential negative into a positive … or at least brace for the worst.
The Current Impact of AI
So, I’m on a “road trip” right now, talking to founders all over the country. Every day, I see young companies making a concerted and collective effort to create AI-based workplaces and workforces.
While startups are shooting right out of the gate with those goals — some very close to replacing humans from the workforce all together — we’re also seeing established companies transitioning from legacy business models.
Right now, this shift carries a lot of upfront costs. However, over the long run, costs to train and utilize AI models will drop.
Eventually, efficiencies and tremendous savings afforded by AI will dominate boardrooms to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars, sometimes millions or even billions of dollars for larger corporations. And more jobs will bite the dust.
AI has already reduced around 100 million jobs performed by humans. And if short-term projections hold true, 800 million more could disappear by 2030.
It’s a challenge I simply can’t sugarcoat: This is going to be a massive disruption for everyone … especially those right here in the U.S.
Think about years ago when manufacturing moved overseas, and we saw a mass exit of jobs to Mexico and China. We saw complete industries crumble, and I think we're going to see the same thing happen again. This time around, jobs are going away — not to foreign countries — but to AI and robots.
Still, losing a job isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can be the start of something great. The key to surviving and thriving is to learn everything you can about AI, and how you can use it to work in your favor.
I've got teenagers, a whole gaggle of kids, in my house right now. They’re using AI on a regular basis, and it’s become a natural part of their lives.
And when younger generations enter the AI workforce, they will have the advantage in the limited job market that lies ahead because they have been operating and moving in the space for so long. I know I wouldn’t want to be their competition.
I say a “limited market” because AI not only eliminates jobs … the jobs it creates will require fewer and fewer actual humans to sit and operate inside those walls.
So, those who are qualified in AI and know how to operate in an AI workplace and execute in it will be the ones given the opportunity to fill those roles.
These are the trends that I'm seeing with my very own eyes today. AI is not going anywhere. It's here to stay, and it's going to change our world forever just like the internet did when it showed up more than three decades ago.
It’s no surprise which jobs and roles are at most risk over the next 10 years. Bank tellers, postal workers, researchers, content producers, grocery cashiers and telemarketers come to mind immediately.
I mean, not all applications of the technology result in job losses.
Often, AI works together with humans to create the best possible solutions from both worlds.
Either way, it’s important to learn what’s happening outside your bubble.
AI and the Next Generation
College students are another vulnerable group that appears to be at the mercy of AI and their universities’ curriculum.
For example, requirements to earn a degree in finance today need to be sufficient and applicable for landing a job tomorrow. There’s no sense learning a skill that AI can master.
I was just in Austin, Texas and took an Uber from a kid who's going to the University of Texas, Austin studying graphic design. I asked him what he thought about AI, and he said, “Oh man, I hope it doesn't mess everything up.”
I said to myself, “This kid has his head in the sand. Shame on you, University of Texas, Austin. You're letting him continue giving you all this money, and he’ll have no skills or tools on how to leverage AI with his area of expertise when he graduates. To make matters worse, the second he rips off his cap and gown, he'll be scaling a mountain of debt.”
You’ve got to be proactive nowadays. Instead of taking on the role of innocent bystander as AI changes the world, you need to be part of that change.
My part in changing the world is investing in the very companies that instill change. That doesn’t sit well with some people. I’m often asked, “Is it a smart move to invest in startups that will essentially leave millions without a job?”
That’s a valid question. Just like when people ask me about financially supporting companies that supply wartime weapons. I answer both the same way.
“You can either invest and catch this wave. Or, if you don’t want any part of it, you can stand on the sidelines with your principles and be left out.”
For my part, I’ll continue to scour that huge mountain of potential AI moonshot startups above for the best ones for my investment dollars.
I’ll, of course, share my findings with you.
But AI is also changing other types of investing. In fact, here at Weiss Ratings, we’ve been developing an AI trading system that has beat the S&P 500 by 51-to-1 over the past 10 years.
If you haven’t yet, you do need to check it out right now. We are pulling this opportunity down today at midnight.
To see what AI can do for you right now, click here.
Happy hunting,
Chris Graebe
