AI and Investing Series: What's Real, What's Hype and Where I'm Investing
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated October 15, 2026 · Code of Ethics
Since March 2026, I've been writing about what AI can really do, what it's doing to jobs and companies, and how I'm investing my own money around it. I write as someone who builds software with AI every day and as an investor deciding where my own money goes. Here's every article in the series, in order.
(Usual disclaimer: I'm just an investor expressing my personal opinion and am not an attorney, accountant nor your financial advisor. Consult your own financial professionals before making any financial decisions. Code of Ethics: To remove conflicts of interest that are rife on other sites, I/we do not accept ANY money from outside sponsors or platforms for ANYTHING. This includes but is not limited to: no money for postings, nor reviews, nor advertising, nor affiliate leads etc.
Nor do I/we negotiate special terms for ourselves in the club above what we negotiate for the benefit of members. Info may contain errors so use at your own risk. See Code of Ethics for more info.)
Why I'm Writing This Series
For years I was an AI skeptic. The boom looked like massive spending and hype with very little to show for it.
Then the 2026 Claude Code update made a sudden, dramatic improvement in one crucial area: writing software. I changed my mind, and Part 1 explains why.
Since then I've programmed with AI every day. That hands-on work has made me skeptical of many of the big predictions, even as I've become a believer in AI's power.
So the series checks the forecasts against what's actually happening, then asks the investor's question: which investments benefit from AI, and which are AI resistant?
And because I don't accept money from sponsors or platforms, nothing here is a paid placement.
The Series in Order
Part 1: How the 2026 Claude Code Update Turned a Long-time AI Skeptic into a Believer
Published March 20, 2026 · 16-minute read
The AI boom had been an expensive disappointment. Then Claude Code's latest release delivered a sudden and dramatic improvement in writing software. Why that matters, and why a major shift in jobs and the economy could be closer than you think.
Part 2: Now That AI Can Code Well, a Scientific and Economic Revolution Is Poised to Come Sooner than Most Expect
Published March 20, 2026 · 28-minute read
AI's new ability to code will speed up its own progress, and the timeline for profound scientific and economic change may be shorter than many expect. History is also littered with technologies that didn't deliver, so this part weighs the case for rapid change against the obstacles that could slow or derail it.
Part 3: Navigating the Future: AI's Impact on Investments
Published March 23, 2026 · 11-minute read
If AI fulfills its promise, the economic effects will be profound. This part lays out investment ideas for a world where AI actually delivers, including the rise of the AI-resistant investment.
Part 4: A Reality Check on AI Predictions: Three Major Forecasts That Haven't Held Up
Published October 2, 2026 · 14-minute read
AI was supposed to have already wiped out massive numbers of jobs, made software free and made software developers extinct. I check each of those forecasts against the jobs data, which is showing an AI boom, and against my own months of programming with AI.
Part 5: Why AI Is Costing Companies Far More Than Expected, and the Investments That Could Benefit
Published October 2, 2026 · 14-minute read
Some big companies have run through a year's AI budget in a few months, and the buildings and electricity needed to run AI are getting harder to come by. Here's where I'm investing around that scarcity, and which candidates have and haven't passed muster.
Coming Next: AI Agents That Run Your Errands
The next article looks at AI agents that act on your behalf.
This page is updated as each new part is published.
