The rush around artificial intelligence is fueling a data center boom in Israel, while technology companies are also cutting jobs and citing AI as part of the reason. But Ken Fisher, founder and chairman of Fisher Investments, argues that much of the hype is premature. He says the future of AI is unknown even to so-called experts, and warns that buying stocks or chasing IPOs purely on AI speculation is “the height of arrogance.”
Fisher, who wrote in October that AI has not created a stock market bubble and says that remains true, says markets already price in expectations. He notes that many gloomy forecasts assume AI will destroy jobs without creating new ones, a view he calls historically wrong. In 1981, economists similarly warned that computers would replace masses of workers, yet jobs changed, workers learned new skills, and living standards improved.
He says AI is only a small factor in current layoffs and is often being used as a scapegoat. Block’s share price has been falling for years, he says, while Wix has also lost much of its value since its peak. Meta, Wix and other companies hired aggressively and made large acquisitions after the coronavirus pandemic, and now AI is being blamed for broader restructuring.
Fisher also cautions against expecting overnight disruption. The internet transformed the economy, but only gradually over decades, and AI is likely to follow a similar path. He acknowledges legitimate concerns about the energy needs of data centers, but says chip shortages, infrastructure limits and local opposition are slowing deployment. He expects AI to change some industries dramatically, especially logistics, management and health care, while helping large banks and elder care, including tools like Tel Aviv based Sensi.AI that detect falls and medical changes. In his view, AI will mainly reshape work by handling routine tasks and freeing people for more complex projects, not by simply replacing them.
