AI Isn't Replacing You... Someone Using It Will

A lot of folks are worried about AI taking their jobs...

And to an extent, they're right. AI will forever change the way our workforce operates.

Here's where they get it wrong, though... AI itself isn't going to take your job.

Someone who knows how to use AI better than you will take your job.

The companies and individuals that embrace AI correctly are accelerating their growth. Those that hesitate or use it wrong are being left behind.

As I'll explain today, mastering AI is no longer optional. And if mastery is your goal, there's one foundational element you can't afford to miss.

Different AI platforms excel at different tasks...

That might seem obvious. And yet, it's a trap many folks fall into when starting out with AI.

We've mandated that all our employees use AI tools 20 times a day. And for a lot of them, it's tempting to use ChatGPT or Gemini all day long... and nothing else.

That's a mistake. Effective use of AI is about more than just punching everything into a single assistant.

I've learned this lesson myself. For example, regular readers know about our Earnings Call Forensics ("ECF") analyzer, which reviews management earnings calls. It's listening for their poker tells and the emotion behind their words. I turn to a specific AI assistant that handles this better than anything else.

However, when I'm working with large financial analytics datasets, I rely on yet another AI tool. I'll load up 20,000 companies with hundreds of columns of data for each company, digging into our research.

It's not perfect. I don't trust it to deliver polished, client-ready answers every time. But the insights we get – 70%, 80%, or even 90% correct – are delivered in seconds, not hours.

It can analyze nuances like the relationship between Uniform return on assets and Uniform valuations. That's a completely different sort of AI than the one I use for the ECF.

That brings me to what so many people get wrong about AI. You see, it's not only about the tool.

It's also about the data that the AI tool references...

We wouldn't get any of these valuable insights if we used a big stream of as-reported financial data out of Bloomberg or Reuters.

The data provider isn't to blame. They're just sending out the financial information mandated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")... the same data Wall Street discusses all day long.

As IBM programmer George Fuechsel said more than 70 years ago... "Garbage In, Garbage Out." Users often blame the AI tool for bad results, when the error was the data fed to it in the first place.

Again, this is a lesson we've learned in our own practice. To run ECF, it takes about eight times longer to prepare the audio and transcript of the call than we spend on the actual analysis.

Speakers' voices need to be parsed. Background noises need to be removed. Published transcripts often don't match the actual spoken word. And all of that before we feed the data to the AI tool.

By the way, it's alarming how often the published transcript doesn't match what was said on the actual earnings call. If you think the SEC polices this... think again.

For instance, swear words are often removed from transcripts. My goodness... if a CEO swears during an earnings call, I want to know about it.

I certainly want the AI machine to hear it and read it before it gives me an analysis of management and the company's prospects.

AI is bigger than anything we've seen since the 1990s PC revolution...

Back then, firms that embraced new technology gained a competitive edge that put them years ahead. The same thing is happening now with AI... only at an even faster pace.

Because of how fast it’s happening, not all companies are building their AI tools the right way. Many are standing up tools to appease shareholders. And in the short term, it’s working.

That said, over the longer term, it'll become clear which companies have thought through their AI use cases. They will be the ones who see real benefits... and their stocks will follow suit.

Wishing you love, joy, and peace,

Joel
January 17, 2025

P.S. President Trump just signed an executive order granting Elon Musk sweeping new powers... to roll out new technology across the federal government.

It creates the perfect platform for Musk to unleash the single most disruptive technology of his career. It will totally rewire life in America, changing how you claim Social Security... pay your taxes... even how you access health care.

This story all comes down to AI... And my team and I have uncovered a handful of AI-related stocks that are set to soar as Musk's agenda plays out. Get the details here.