This weird, authentic, and niche content is winning the battle for our free time. [The Jolt with Stephen McBride] The biggest threat to Hollywood not named AI Good morning. Lots going on this week. Iâll be in London on Thursday having breakfast with one of my heroesââThe Rational Optimistâ himself, Matt Ridley. Then Iâm headed to NYC for the launch party of my friend and prolific writer Jared Dillianâs new book: No Worries: How to Live a Stress-Free Financial Life. Hereâs a little excerpt Jared shared with me: I already pre-ordered the book, and Iâll probably read the whole thing within 48 hours of receiving it. Jaredâs writing is that good. [Grab your copy here.]( Now, letâs get after it⦠- Coming soon: A personalized AI agent that knows everything about you. Apple (AAPL) just announced a new breakthrough that will allow artificial intelligence (AI) models like ChatGPT to run on your iPhone. Until now, these power-hungry programs had to come from giant datacenters. Soon, theyâll be able to run on the six-inch supercomputer you carry around in your pocket all day. This is going to change your life. Every business will have an AI engine. Youâll be able to sync your highly personalized AI assistantâwho knows everything about youâwith your favorite restaurants, for example. Are you vegan? Have a gluten allergy? Every restaurant will know before you walk in. I admit this sounds a little invasive. And yes, I care about privacy. But the reality is itâll make life so convenient, weâll all do it. Restaurants will know your favorite dishes the minute you open the door. Hotels will know you like the AC at 72°. Schoolkidsâ AI agents will create personalized quizzes to coach them through subjects theyâre struggling in. AI is often painted as some dystopian technology. Iâll take the other side and say itâs going to make the world a whole lot better. It also has the potential to be the biggest boom in history because, unlike most other tech breakthroughs, it touches every part of our lives. The investment implications are many. The most obvious one: Buy the companies making computer chips that will power AIâlike Nvidia (NVDA), which is hitting new highs. [Iâm glad we bought this winner early.]( - Technology is eating the world⦠Look at this chart showing how most couples now meet online. If online dating (red line) were a stock, itâd be hitting new highs. I donât recommend buying dating app stocks, though. Monetizing hookups is a tough businesses. Source: Marriage Pact This got me thinking about how people havenât fully grasped that the internet is now real life. âOnlineâ and âofflineâ were once two separate worlds. But nowadays, people work⦠earn a living⦠hang out... shop⦠watch TV⦠and fall in love online. I spend the majority of my waking hours on a screen. I often talk to colleagues who are half the world away more than I talk to my wife. Even if youâre not âextremely onlineâ like me, try going 24 hours without using the internet. Itâs not practical. Technology is eating the world. The interesting question is, âWhat comes next?â I think weâll see tech companiesâwhich have mostly operated onlineâstart really disrupting the offline world. Two examples: #1: Amazon (AMZN) now ships more parcels than both UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX). #2: Waymoâs self-driving cars, owned by Google (GOOG), are launching in major US cities. [Innovation will dramatically shift]( from just software (websites and apps) to the combination of software and hardware (tech you can touch). This will create a whole new set of winners. Iâll have a lot more to say about this shiftâand the ways to profit from itâin [Disruption Investor](. - The biggest threat to Hollywood not named AI⦠My wife and I stumbled upon a YouTube channel called Outdoor Boys over the holidays. Itâs a guy recording his camping trips in the wilderness. All his videos get millions of views: Source: Outdoor Boys on YouTube We watched a couple, and they were great. I feel a weird mix of intrigue and admiration watching him surviving without all the modern conveniences. Content like Outdoor Boys is the biggest threat to Hollywood not named AI. My wife and I couldâve gone to the movies or turned on a Netflix series. Instead, we watched some bloke freeze his butt off hiking through Alaska. This weird, authentic, and niche YouTube content is winning the battle for our free time. And our free time is worth trillions of dollars. Futureâs bright⦠especially for independent creators making a living off their niche passions. Iâd consider buying YouTube stock if it wasnât owned by Google. - Todayâs dose of optimism⦠Iâm sure you saw the video of the Alaska Air Group (ALK) flight where the door blew off midair. Not good. But thereâs never been a safer time to fly on an airplane. Technological innovations like autopilot have transformed airlines into (very safe) air buses: Source: Aviation Safety Network Remember: Technology saves lives. Have a great day. Stephen McBride
Chief Analyst, RiskHedge Suggested Reading... [Put the power of disruption in your portfolio.](
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