Who should consider investing in AI?

How much you decide to invest in these companies will depend substantially on your personal goals and situation.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish with your investing? Is there a clear objective you have in mind that you believe AI investments can help you achieve? Do you understand the potential risks involved in these investments and are you prepared to take them on? And does the timing make sense—is your time horizon long enough to reap the potential benefits from such an investment, or might you be disrupting a portfolio that’s already on track to meet your needs?

Mulling over these questions before you act may be critical. Just because an investment looks good doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you.

So what kind of investor might find the most benefit from AI-related investments?

If your objective is capital appreciation and you hope to help ensure that your portfolio has enough growth potential to reach your long-term goals, it may be wise to include some amount of AI-related investments in your portfolio. “AI-related companies have been a significant contributor to market growth in the last few years and are expected to continue to offer strong growth potential in the years to come,” says Malwal.

But the emphasis here is on the long term. The impact of artificial intelligence on the economy may not be felt for some time—perhaps years, or even decades. While some AI boosters are predicting an imminent economic transformation, many analysts expect it to be a more gradual process. Research from Fidelity’s Asset Allocation Research Team has found that, historically, the adoption of new technologies has been slow and methodical, especially when those technologies required workers to develop new skillsets and businesses to modify their business practices. In some cases, it took as long as 20 years for a new technology to achieve just 50% adoption.

In the short term, investors should be prepared to endure regular bouts of volatility among AI stocks. There is still a lot of uncertainty about the implementation of artificial intelligence and whether it can deliver the economic and productivity gains that some are predicting. As new models are developed and new innovations come to the fore, money may flow in and out of different companies as the market seeks to find the most viable investments.