Seth Klarman, head of the Boston-based multi-strategy hedge fund firm Blaupost Group, says artificial intelligence is proving useful as a productivity tool at his hedge fund, but it is far from replacing human investment judgement, according to a report by Business Insider.
Speaking on Columbia Business School’s Value Investing with Legends podcast, Klarman described AI’s role at Baupost as “essentially a capable assistant, a summer intern” — suited to speeding up routine tasks rather than making portfolio calls.
Examples include scanning and comparing a decade’s worth of annual reports to identify changes in language, tone, or risk disclosure, and identifying unfamiliar company logos to map an industry landscape — jobs that might once have taken an intern several days, but can now be done in minutes.
While AI has saved time, Klarman admitted he has yet to be impressed by its creativity. A chatbot-generated list of questions for a business interview, for example, he described as “useless” compared to his own approach.
