Report: Investment trends shift toward physical assets amidst AI expansion

The expansion of artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering market dynamics, particularly for digital service providers and software developers. According to Lindsey Witmer Collins, CEO of WLCM App Studio, the rapid automation of digital tasks is eroding the profit margins of firms caught in the middle of the value chain. As AI lowers the cost of content and code generation, traditional service roles face increased volatility.

Collins posits that the most resilient economic opportunities now lie at the physical extremes. The first is the supply of critical raw materials, such as copper, which remains essential for powering AI infrastructure and electrification. With supply falling behind surging demand and the permitting process for new mines spanning decades, secondary markets—such as recycling and recovering metals from decommissioned hardware—have become strategically important.

Conversely, the second area of growth involves scarce, human-centered experiences. As synthetic content becomes essentially free to produce, the value of events that cannot be manufactured—such as live sports, concerts, and in-person social gatherings—continues to rise. Collins suggests that while AI effectively consumes the middle layer of the economy, it simultaneously enhances the value of both finite physical resources and tangible, real-world human presence.