If AI takes off, it will be used in all sorts of industries. Look at index funds - you could easily bet on the wrong AI horse if you invest in specific companies, but index funds can cover large swaths of the market, and if AI takes off it will affect the whole market.

Additionally, if we do see an ASI, even if it is bound by a need for further physical testing and it stops at, say, twice the intelligence of our best minds, it may be able to prove many things about the physical world through experiments that have already been done.

Because not only would it be generally quite intelligent, it would specifically, as a computer, be far better at combing through massive amounts of research papers to look for connections. It's not a sure thing, but it's possible that it's able to find a connection between a paper on the elasticity of bubble gum and a paper on the mating habits of fruit flies to draw new proofs we never would have thought to look for. Not a certainty by any means, but one avenue for faster advancement than we might expect.

Do you bear hunt without hounds? If so, I'd appreciate any tips you could give to someone starting out. I'd like to try, but I don't want to do it with dogs and it seems almost impossible in our terrain without either them or bait.