Adapt and thrive with AI

WHAT do video production company The Dor Brothers and the mushrooming of medical kiosks in Shanghai have in common?

Well, the former is a pioneer in artificial intelligence (AI) video production, having produced more than 300 AI-generated videos, generating more than 100 million views worldwide.

A recent AI-generated action-packed movie video lasting just three minutes and 15 seconds was done in just a day and has garnered almost 20 million views worldwide.

With more than 2,000 kiosks, the latter uses AI to provide medical diagnosis at a much cheaper cost, diagnosing cases within minutes, if not seconds, 24/7.

Two months into 2026, we knew that the AI theme would be centre stage for markets, but few saw it coming as a threat to software development companies.

Judging by how the Magnificent 7 (Mag-7) stocks have performed year-to-date, there is an increasing debate as to whether the AI-theme is in bubble territory as more monies are being poured into new AI development, raising questions of its sustainability and returns, while software companies are being hammered down on fears of their relevance in the future.

At the time of writing, Mag-7 stocks are down by about 4% year-to-date, while Software-as-a-Service stocks have experienced a bigger sell-off with losses ranging from as low as 17% for Microsoft to as much as 28% for companies like Salesforce.

Judging by what we have seen so far this year, the question on investors’ minds is whether the evolving AI is bad for companies, or is this a long-term trend that will persist and change the way we work, play, live and learn in our daily routines.

In an article published three weeks ago by Matt Shumer, co-founder and chief executive officer of OthersideAI, titled “Something Big Is Happening,” he perfectly summarises what AI can do today.

He opines that “if you haven’t tried AI in the last few months, what exists today would be unrecognisable to you”.

The paid versions of various AI applications out there today are so advanced that many current functions carried out by humans would be deemed obsolete.

It is widely predicted that AI will be able to replace 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within the next one to five years.

According to Shumer, “one of the main things that makes AI better is intelligence applied to

AI development.

“And AI is now intelligent enough to meaningfully contribute to its own improvement.”

Shumer, in his article, also calls upon us to embrace AI like no other applications, as it will be transformative in the way we work, improve our efficiency, and life-changing when it comes to certain fields, and for its problem-solving solutions and capabilities.

Huge investments

Among Mag-7 companies, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft are investing heavily in AI, with as much as US$650bil committed this year, double what they spent two years ago.

Total committed global AI investments have now reached US$2.5 trillion, some 44% higher than last year.

While it creates opportunities for companies in AI development with more job creation, growth and profitability, there is also the scarier part of what is to come.

AI, as explained earlier, is set to replace the demand for employees and be replaced by machines.

In essence, we are headed towards massive investments in AI-related development, but it will come with a price, as most countries will face rising unemployment.

This will result in greater challenges for any government, as it must deal with a lack of job opportunities, possibly lead to social unrest, as well as the collapse of consumer spending.

At what price?

Huge investments made by big techs also mean an equivalent funding need to meet the committed AI spending.

While some are sitting on large piles of cash reserves, most have gone to the debt market to raise capital, where investors are being carried away by what AI means for long-term sustainability of businesses.

Based on data, close to US$1 trillion has been raised to fund AI infrastructure, with innovative and long-duration debt papers as well.

Some have raised funds via special-purpose vehicles or issued century bonds to ease financial pressure, as high spending has raised questions about earnings sustainability, debt financing, capital management through dividends and share buybacks, and most importantly for investors, the impact on valuations.

Century bonds highlight the uncertainty of whether AI investments will pay off, given the rapid evolution of technology; what was relevant five or 10 years ago is now obsolete.

ChatGPT, introduced in November 2022, was the most well-known AI-enabled platform, now known to many.

Achieving many firsts, ChatGPT revolutionised generative AI and led to huge investments by large market players.

This enabled late adopters to learn quickly and introduce their own large language models, such as DeepSeek AI last year and other customised generative-AI tailored to specific demands.

An enabler

While many opinions and studies suggest AI poses the greatest threat to existing jobs, future hiring and enterprise solutions for business-to-business, there is still an opportunity for everyone to learn, adapt and apply AI-driven applications to remain as relevant as they are today.

AI is efficient and smart in gathering information and solving complex, time-consuming issues, making it a time-saving, effort-reducing, and result-orientated tool for work or leisure.

At the end of the day, AI applications are efficient tools for greater productivity and efficiency. The fact that big techs are spending on AI-enabled solutions tells us that AI is here to stay.

While costly in terms of capital expenditure and profitability impact, the real winners are users, both businesses and individuals.

It is time to embrace AI on a large scale, as seen in the evolution of video production and the medical field.

AI is not a threat to those who know how to use it to improve productivity and deliver mind boggling solutions in the fast-changing world, compared to those stuck in the old ways.

AI is here to stay, it’s time to embrace it.