The Sectors That AI Will Leave Untouched

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the weekly mailbag edition of The Bleeding Edge. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future edition, write to me by clicking right here.

AI will learn and add results to a dataset. But if the dataset is a false positive, what effect will this data have on data to make a decision?

– Scott T.

Scott, this is an excellent question and one that Large Language Model engineers are grappling with daily.

There’s actually a phenomenon being studied called “model collapse” which occurs when new generative AI models train on AI-generated content. In other words, you take AI generated content and train another AI model with it. In this scenario, models start to forget the true underlying data distribution, and the model can fail to function properly.

Ultimately, data is the most important aspect of an AI model. A few false positives on their own wouldn’t be a bad thing. In fact, including outlier data during training can help the model become more robust and accurate. This also improves the model’s ability to handle edge cases.

However, false or inaccurate data in large quantities can ultimately ruin an AI model from working properly. Human intervention and monitoring is likely the only solution for this in the short run. Model collapse theory also indicates that human generated content will only become more valuable since AI models cannot be trained on AI generated data.

Years ago, I read that American students are not as proficient at math and science as those from many other countries, but also that American students are much more creative. Last week, you mentioned that you think that AI will help workers with creativity. Is there a country or two whose stock market will likely experience much greater growth with the addition of AI creativity that is likely coming in the not-too-distant future?

Thank you,

– Randy O.

This is an excellent question. Creativity is likely hard to quantify. In some cultures, creativity will be different than how it is perceived in America.

In general, I believe strong copyright laws lead to more profitable creativity. When there is a reward system for creativity, it naturally incentivizes it.

Does that mean countries that lack copyright laws will suddenly become more creative? Probably at the margins. Generative AI in particular can give someone the tools to become more creative − but the incentive to do so would still need to be evident.

In societies that place more emphasis on math and science, there’s likely more uplift from AI augmenting those industries versus creativity becoming a larger part.

This is a really fascinating question and way to look at AI. The societal impacts are going to be worth watching. Broadly, I believe the incentive structures such as copyright or intellectual property have the biggest impact on a society being perceived as creative. Lacking those, I’m not convinced that society would pursue more creative endeavors even with AI. Time will tell.

Hi Colin,

Did Feastables ever cross your screen as a Pre-IPO play? I suspect they grew too heady, too fast to need our chump change.

However, if circumstances should change, if Feastables should ever seek pre-IPO funding from small investors, we need to jump on this.

In essence, a 25-year-old social influencer has decided to take on Hershey’s Chocolate, the stodgiest, most impregnable fortress of Blueblood Investments. And he’s winning.

– Charles S.

Charles, great question. I wish Feastables or anything MrBeast does would come across for us to recommend. For those unaware, Jimmy Donaldson – who publishes videos on YouTube as “MrBeast” – is one of the most watched channels on the platform. As of this writing, he has close to 170 million subscribers. For context, Netflix counts 209 million subscribers on its platform.

He has several projects including Mr. Beast Burger, which has some physical locations but primarily is delivered from “ghost kitchens” or through other restaurant chains. His candy bar brand, as you referenced, is also available nationwide. I found some recently at a 7-Eleven.

This is actually a great example of something I will write more about as time goes on – and that’s an industry that won’t be impacted by AI. We’ll spend the bulk of the time focusing on AI – as the addressable market is just in the early stages of discovery. However, there will be many businesses that won’t be impacted much by AI. The food category is one. Fashion, travel, and leisure are others.

In fact, as people are more productive, that is likely to allow more time to indulge in watching a MrBeast video and being introduced to his chocolate bar brand.

I promise you, if we have the chance to invest in Feastables or anything related to his brand, I will be sure to bring it to your attention.

Regards,

Colin Tedards
Editor, The Bleeding Edge