Artificial intelligence is not only a hot topic in Hollywood.
While the horror robot film “M3gan” brings in millions at the winter box office, the ETF industry sees opportunities in the controversial technology.
According to ROBO Global CIO William Studebaker, the economic benefits could be overwhelming.
“You’re going to see a tsunami effect in terms of falling prices as a result of deflationary pressures on these technologies,” he told CNBC’s ETF Edge on Wednesday. “It’s in industrial manufacturing, healthcare, AG [agriculture]Security and Surveillance… and others.”
Studebaker manages the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF, which is up 12% so far this year. The exchange traded fund’s holdings include IPG Photonic, Zebra Technologies, Rockwell Automation and Teradyne.
“I am very confident that this will be very conducive to our economies around the world and most importantly will only generate new growth,” he added.
Rise of the robots and jobs
There is widespread concern that AI will come at the expense of jobs. But Studebaker claims the risk is overstated.
“If you look at the companies and countries using automation the most, you know what? They have the lowest unemployment rates,” he noted.
The International Federation of Robotics announced a milestone last year. It turned out that a record number of robots were installed over the course of a year, a 22% increase from the pre-pandemic record set in 2018.
Studebaker hints that the robotics boom is still in its infancy.
“If you think about the number of data scientists and people trained in AI around the world, that’s a de minimis number,” Studebaker said. “[The AI surge is] it’s going to be a long time before that happens.”
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