The Coming AI Boom

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Got a minute?

**Brian Buffini** (0:01)
I want to talk to you about the coming AI boom. What do you mean coming? Isn't that last year's news, Brian? No. Let me say this is multiplying at a rapid pace. And this is the biggest opportunity of your lifetime. And it's happening right now. You know, every generation has a defining breakthrough. The Industrial Revolution gave us the assembly line and changed how the world made things. The computer changed how we worked. The Internet changed how we connect. And the iPhone has put the world's knowledge in our pockets. Now comes the next quantum leap, artificial intelligence. AI isn't just another piece of technology. It's a new way of thinking. It's a new way of creating, solving problems, and ultimately multiplying human potential. And just like every revolution before it, some people will resist it, some people will fear it, and others will learn it. And those who learn it will shape the future. History rewards the people who adapt. The AI boom will be no different. So don't fear the future. Learn it. Leverage it. And let it help you become more productive, more creative, and even more valuable than ever before. That's how you don't just survive the next revolution, you lead it.
In today's Blueprint, I'm going to talk about this coming AI boom. And this is happening by the minute. In fact, Buffini & Company is right at the center of it, with our own dynamic of Ask Buffini. So I'm going to cover three things with you today as I always do. I'm going to talk about the downside of innovation. I'm going to talk about the productivity boom that's on the horizon, which will also affect the markets. And then we're going to talk about new world with new opportunities.
So let's talk about the downside of every innovation. You know, when the light bulb was invented, we always talk about that being this great thing, right? Thomas Edison tried 8,000 times, failed 8,000 times, all that good stuff. What people don't realize is that the largest company in America at that time made kerosene. You ever heard of John Rockefeller?
Okay? He owned 90% of all the kerosene in the United States. Kerosene was how people lit their home. It's how they warmed their home. It was also a massive fire hazard. It also gave off quite a lot of chemical problems. And oh, by the way, he dug up half of America with the dirtiest oil wells and turned Lake Erie into a lake that actually set on fire. However, in hindsight, that's easy to see.
What do you think it meant for all the people working in the kerosene business? Oh, by the way, the railroads ended. The number one product that railroads in America transported was kerosene. The railroad business, the banking business, the oil business, the people who made the equipment that did the drilling and the refining.
Every single home in America had kerosene lamps. Every street in America had kerosene lamps, and there were people hired at night to light the kerosene lamps. That was their job. Thousands and thousands of people. So when we look in hindsight, we go the electric light bulb. That's only good. But for the people at the time, it was tough. Now, with every major innovation, here's what happens. A lot of people will lose that job and have to develop a new job. And what has happened throughout innovation in the last 200 years, more jobs were created through innovation and after innovation, which will happen again. We're already starting to see it. Data centers. I mean, right now, don't send your kid to college. Get them an electrical tool belt and let them go make 250 grand being a sparky. Okay? That's the way to go. So every innovation has a downside. You know, when we mass produce cars, Henry Ford. Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile. Mercedes did that. But Henry Ford, what he studied and what he built was the assembly line. He actually went to the meatpacking plants in Chicago, and how they moved beef through the meatpacking plants, and then took that and built the assembly line in Detroit. Changed how everything was made. It used to take a week to produce a Model T. At the peak of Ford, they were producing a Model T every 90 seconds. Amazing, right? The average American, by the way, people don't know this. Henry Ford's mission was this. When Henry Ford in 1900 did a little survey, he found that the average American had never been seven miles away from their home. So Henry Ford's mission wasn't to invent the assembly line or to invent the Model T. He wanted Americans to travel and see the country. So that's why... Is that a good goal? And so he built the assembly line. He built all that stuff. Now, what were the downsides? How did people get around prior to that?