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Happy Holidays!

As we talked about on Saturday, artificial intelligence is a huge megatrend. Maybe even one of the biggest – or the biggest – we’ll see in our lifetimes.

Think about the adoption of the automobile.

At the start of the 1900s, the motorcar was little more than a curiosity. In 1903, U.K. MP John Douglas-Scott-Montagu expressed the accepted wisdom of the era when he declared, “I do not believe the introduction of motorcars will ever affect the riding of horses.”

Obviously, that comment was laughably misguided, as the following two photos illustrate.

The first photograph (from the U.S. National Archives) shows New York’s Fifth Avenue on Easter Day 1900. Although horse-drawn buggies blanket the street, a lone motorcar is barely visible.

Just 13 years later, a similar photograph from the George Grantham Bain Collection shows Fifth Avenue on Easter Day 1913.

The contrast is hard to miss. Automobiles dominate the avenue, with the exception of one lone horse-drawn buggy.

Although this contrast is shocking to see, it was hardly surprising. In 1905, less than 100,000 Americans owned an automobile. But just 15 years later, 10 million Americans owned one.

When this revolutionary new technology hit the road, there was simply no stopping it.

AI will be no different; it will infiltrate every nook and cranny of our lives at a blistering pace.

So, today, let’s talk a bit more about AI – by revisiting an article from September, titled What to Note in the AI Megatrend.

Now, you might already be tired of hearing about artificial intelligence; I get it.

But I urge you to fight through your AI-fatigue and pay close attention to this massive, developing story. This megatrend will be producing fortunes for years to come.

Mindless Robots? Not Hardly

A friend logged on to his Fidelity account through work the other day to check on his retirement funds. He reported that everything is normal (as normal as the market gets these days), but he noticed that Fidelity’s “top stock” that day was a company called Innovative Eyewear Inc. (LUCY). He figured, no big deal… he’d never heard of it.

But what sparked his interest was that this no-name company had skyrocketed 235% that day!

Evidently, the company launched eyewear that listens for commands and then connects to ChatGPT inside the glasses. “I am totally freaked out by this,” my friend said. “People are going to be mindless robots soon!”

While that’s not quite true, artificial intelligence has certainly grabbed its share of headlines – positive and negative – lately. We discussed back in January why I think AI is a megatrend to watch in 2023. I said…

For most of us, AI is both mysterious and terrifying. We aren’t sure how AI might change our world. Will it be for the better? Or will we all end up like the “human batteries” that power society in 1999’s The Matrix?

But I also pointed out…

But this is simply the way innovation goes; we’re all a bit fearful of the changes that will come… until they become an integral part of our lives.

And that’s been evident as AI has soared to the top of most companies’ and traders’ minds over the past six months – so much so, that we’re beginning to enter a period of “AI fatigue.”

But just because the news is slowing down doesn’t mean that the AI megatrend has any less potential.

Here’s why it’s crucial for investors to stay abreast of its developments…

AI Misconceptions

For my friend, the apprehension about AI taking over everything is real… and many other folks are just as anxious about it, despite the overarching evidence that it presents a lot of opportunities, both for moneymaking and for furthering the digital age.

But why such a hesitant – or even negative – view? It may have to do with being unable to block AI’s intrusion into your world. You have no control over it; you can’t simply “opt out” of AI. Even if it might actually improve an aspect of your life, losing control is probably intimidating to people…

• Your doctor might use it when diagnosing you…
• Your company might look to reduce overhead by leveraging ChatGPT to write code or copy…
• And autonomous vehicles might drive up next to you at a stoplight.

It will take some adjustment, but we’re already using quite a few forms of AI.

And in fact, AI can actually make us safer… on our devices, the roads, and in our homes – even our health can be enhanced with AI technology.

Regardless, the market doesn’t care about your feelings when it comes to AI… because it’s already charging ahead.

How the AI Money Tree Grew – and Where It’s Going

Back in 2015, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and a few other ultra-successful entrepreneurs used $1 billion of their own money to create Open AI, a non-profit startup focused on researching and developing artificial intelligence.

Nobody paid much attention to it in the years that followed, but once the insiders realized what they had created, they quietly switched changed the status of the company to “for-profit.”

Then, they flipped on the switch in November 2022.

When ChatGPT launched, it marked a seminal moment for AI, much like streaming became Netflix’s moneymaker… or even further back when Netscape had its groundbreaking moment as the first Internet browser.

Investing in either of those technologies produced many millionaires… and I believe AI has the ability to mint billionaires… perhaps even the world’s first trillionaire.

Regards,

Eric