Mark of the craze for this investment theme, the stock market index CTA Artificial Intelligencecomposed of stocks linked to artificial intelligence (AI) and listed on the American Nasdaq Stock Exchange, has increased by more than 30% since 1er January, encouraging a number of management companies to launch funds and ETFs (“exchange traded funds”index funds, which replicate stock market indices) specialized in this activity.
This attraction is mainly explained by the sector’s growth prospects: spending linked to this new technology is expected to reach 1,300 billion dollars (around 1,190 billion euros) by 2032, according to Bloomberg Intelligencerepresenting an average annual growth rate of 42%.
But the winners of AI are not limited to the companies that provide this universal technology or facilitate access to it for users, like Microsoft, major shareholder of the company OpenAI, at the origin of the creation of Cat-GPT. Many companies also use the tool to improve the products and services they offer to their customers.
This is the case in the fields of robotics, cybersecurity, education, finance, the fashion industry, health, etc. “It is in particular thanks to AI that effective vaccines against the coronavirus have been developed in record time”, underlines Rolando Grandi, manager of the Echiquier Artificial Intelligence fund at La Financière de l’Echiquier. To his eyes, “AI could have an even greater impact on our daily lives than the arrival of the Internet in the 2000s.”
Despite the current enthusiasm of investors, the valuation of stocks in the sector would not be excessive given their profit prospects in the years to come, judge the specialists interviewed.
Threats in the labor market
Moreover, investments made in companies listed on the stock exchange have mainly focused on a limited number of stocks, notably American technology companies, which have largely integrated AI into their development strategy. Among them, we can cite “Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet [maison mère de Google]Tesla, Amazon, Nvidia or even Meta »indicates Jacques-Aurélien Marcireau, manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management.
Artificial intelligence nevertheless raises questions, particularly with regard to extra-financial criteria known as ESG (environmental, social and governance), which are increasingly used in investors’ stock selection processes. Indeed, from a social point of view, the threat that AI represents on the labor market raises questions, it could lead to the elimination of many professions. “This technology will increase the expertise of tomorrow’s workforce by allowing them to focus on higher value-added tasks”tempers Mr. Marcireau.
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