AI-Resilient Investing

AI-resilient investing means owning the parts of the economy that artificial intelligence cannot easily copy, automate, or make obsolete: physical, real-world businesses like mining, freight, and infrastructure. This pillar maps the theme: what it is, the research behind it, the companies that represent it, and how to invest.

Key takeaways
  • AI-resilient investing means owning businesses whose value AI cannot easily copy, automate, or make obsolete: mostly physical, real-world operations.
  • Research finds physical, hands-on occupations are the least exposed to large language models, while higher-paid information work is most exposed.
  • Representative areas include mining, freight and rail, out-of-home advertising, and industrial distribution; the HALO concept groups U.S.-listed names.
  • It is a value and real-asset tilt: cyclical and capital-heavy, suited to long-horizon investors rather than a hiding place from drawdowns.

What is AI-resilient investing?

It starts from one question: what does a company own that an AI cannot reproduce? Software, text, and code a model can copy; a copper mine, a rail network, or a billboard on owned land it cannot. AI-resilient investing tilts a portfolio toward that second kind of business: companies whose value rests on physical assets and real-world operations rather than on work a model can automate.

Why does it matter now?

The market has poured capital into anything that rides the AI wave. The mirror image of that trade is the set of businesses AI struggles to touch. The research backs the split: “GPTs are GPTs” found that about 80% of U.S. workers have at least 10% of their tasks exposed to large language models, with higher-paid information work most exposed and physical, hands-on occupations least exposed (Eloundou et al., Science 2024). Owning the least-exposed end of the economy is the core of this theme.

Which parts of the market are most resilient?

The resilient areas are stubbornly physical. Freight still has to move: trucks alone carried 72.7% of U.S. domestic freight by tonnage in 2024 (American Trucking Associations). Metals still have to be mined, and the IEA expects copper projects to fall roughly 30% short of demand by 2035 (IEA). Add energy and utilities, out-of-home advertising, rail, and industrial distribution, and you have the backbone of the real economy.

Explore this theme

Concepts

Companies

Key terms

Comparisons

How can you invest in it?

The Heavy Asset Low Obsolescence (HALO) concept groups U.S.-listed examples, and the Roundhill HALO ETF (LOHA) tracks the Akros U.S. HALO Index of those companies.

The HALO strategy targets companies “uniquely positioned to withstand the persistent threat of AI disruption.”

— Roundhill Investments, HALO ETF (LOHA) objective

  • Roundhill HALO ETF (LOHA) · Roundhill Investments
    Tracks the Akros U.S. HALO Index of physical-economy companies screened for AI resilience.

What are the risks?

This is not a hiding place. The same physical assets that make these businesses hard to copy also make them cyclical and capital-hungry, so they can fall sharply in a downturn. AI resilience is a thesis, not a guarantee; automation can still cut costs and headcount inside these industries even when it never replaces the asset.

Frequently asked questions

What is AI-resilient investing?

AI-resilient investing focuses on companies whose earnings come from physical assets and real-world operations that artificial intelligence cannot easily copy, automate, or make obsolete, such as miners, railroads, billboard owners, and industrial distributors.

Which sectors are most resilient to AI disruption?

Sectors built on hands-on, physical work tend to be most resilient: mining and materials, freight and rail, energy and utilities, out-of-home advertising, and industrial distribution. Software, content, and routine information-processing businesses are the most exposed.

Is there an ETF for AI-resilient investing?

The HALO concept groups U.S.-listed examples, and the Roundhill HALO ETF (LOHA) tracks the Akros U.S. HALO Index of these companies. As always, check fees, holdings, and risk before investing.

Sources & references

  1. GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs · Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock · Science, 2024-06-21
  2. American Trucking Trends 2025 (share of U.S. freight tonnage by mode) · American Trucking Associations, 2025-06-01
  3. Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 (copper supply gap) · International Energy Agency, 2025-05-21
  4. Roundhill HALO ETF (LOHA) · fund objective · Roundhill Investments, 2026-05-14