Markets with Madison: ChatGPT coming for 1 in 3 jobs, and Fonterra’s margin troubles

The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot service ChatGPT that Bill Gates calls “revolutionary” is coming for one-third of white collar roles and could upend finance and law professions by 2030, a global equity analyst is warning.

Jarden’s Ben Stewart told Markets with Madison the service, backed by Microsoft and powered by Nvidia’s semiconductor chips, would eventually provide a net benefit to the workforce.

“It’s likely that people will move into other roles that will be heavily supported by AI applications.”

But its success could be at geopolitical risk, because the computer chips powering the service were largely made in Taiwan.

“There is a tail risk that if the relationship between China and Taiwan deteriorates, and there is an invasion or the like, that there will be a bit of a supply crunch on Nvidia [chips].”

Plus Fonterra has a new troubled asset - its New Zealand consumer business is under margin pressure, with the cost of doing business making it harder to make money off its Anchor dairy products, Kāpiti and Mainland cheese, De Winkel and Fresh ‘n Fruity yoghurt.

“It’s not as good as we’d like it to be, clearly,” Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell told Markets with Madison.

The dairy co-operative wrote down the value of the division by $92 million in the six months to the end of January, but still posted a 50 per cent increase in net profit and would return $800m to shareholders after spending the past few years drastically selling down assets.

In this interview, Hurrell reflected on how he has turned its fortunes around and shared his views on recent protests blaming the co-op for flooding.

Get investment analysis and insights from the experts on Markets with Madison every Monday and Friday on the NZ Herald.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this programme is of a general nature, and is not intended to be personalised financial advice. We encourage you to seek appropriate advice from a qualified professional to suit your individual circumstances.