The stock market experienced a sharp reaction this week to a research paper outlining a potential “Global Intelligence Crisis” in 2028, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence. Citrini Research’s report, which predicts significant displacement of white-collar workers, triggered an $822 point drop in the Dow on Monday before a partial rebound on Tuesday, according to reports.
Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” dismissed the Citrini Research paper as “high-stakes science fiction,” characterizing it as a pessimistic narrative questioning the future of employment. He joked the paper’s outlook was so bleak it echoed the line from the film Predator: “We’re all going to die.”
The market’s volatility coincided with a shift in investment strategy at Goldman Sachs, as reported by Bloomberg. Goldman strategists identified a “HALO effect”—favoring companies with “Heavy Assets and Low Obsolescence”—and noted a significant rotation into these types of stocks. Capital-intensive stocks have outperformed capital-light, human-reliant groups by 35% since early 2025, according to Goldman Sachs.
The anxieties surrounding AI’s impact on the job market are growing, with some in the financial sector anticipating widespread disruption. A recent report from Ningbo’s High-Flyer, an AI quant hedge fund, disclosed an average 52.55% return in 2025, highlighting the potential for AI-driven investment strategies. This contrasts sharply with the experience of many retail traders, with 84% losing money in their first year of cryptocurrency trading.
Citrini Research, a Substack publication with over 178,000 subscribers, provides insights on thematic equity investing and global macro trading. The firm’s work has gained prominence in financial circles, with some describing it as having a “good pulse on all things in markets.”
Aswath Damodaran, an influencer on LinkedIn, noted that the Citrini scenario prompted responses from other institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Moody’s and Citadel, each presenting their own AI scenarios. Damodaran outlined a framework for assessing the plausibility of these scenarios and developing a base case.
While acknowledging the potential for disruption, some industry leaders are downplaying the immediate threat. The focus is shifting towards adapting to an AI-driven financial landscape, with an emphasis on leveraging AI tools to enhance investment strategies. The key, according to industry observers, is mastering “agent selection” – identifying and managing AI agents capable of executing trades with discipline and precision.
The emerging consensus suggests that human judgment will remain valuable in defining investment goals, allocating capital and setting risk constraints, while AI will handle the execution of trades. The ability to build and manage a “squad” of trading agents, tailored to specific market conditions, is expected to become a core skill in the coming decade.
Markets, particularly in the cryptocurrency space, are already demonstrating the potential of agentic systems to shape liquidity and volatility. The risk, according to analysts, lies in waiting too long to adopt these technologies and missing out on potential gains.
