alt Hacker NewsIndex funds are the only way to guarantee that you will out perform the "average" investor. Why? Because the median investor underperforms the market, hence, buy the market and you are better than median.
I feel pretty safe that if the AI stuff underperforms for whatever reason, that excess capital will flow back into boring things like Walmart. Or if AI eats the world, well, owning an index means I still have a piece of the pie.
> owning an index means I still have a piece of the pie
You're assuming within-pie transfers.
US equities in 1990's were 40% of the world market; now they are 80%. It's pretty easy to imagine them going back to 40% or less as capital moves elsewhere. But owning indexes across currencies and markets is another layer of risk.