Beneath the Sizzle of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence research has a long history, but most of the investment community s views of AI are shaped by the media. The robot in Lost in Space, HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Skynet in The Terminator these media tropes subconsciously shape our perceptions of what AI is and what it could be capable of. We dream of (or maybe dread) a HAL 9000 computer sitting next to us as we trade. As we move our mouse to buy some shares, it will sonorously intone, I don t think you should do that, Dave, or maybe it will just lock us out of the trading room when we are about to make a mistake. Robert Harris s 2011 novel The Fear Index develops this theme near the dramatic conclusion.