Artificial Intelligence for Cannabis Stocks: Not Quite There Yet

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Friends,

I am a big fan of artificial intelligence, though I have a lot of concerns about its use. Some of the areas where I think AI can help society is with respect to health care diagnostics and drug discovery, finance, manufacturing, retail, logistics and technology. Workday, which is an H.R. technology firm that trades publicly, discussed the ways AI can and will impact certain industries in an article last summer.

I don’t follow WDAY closely, but the stock is down 40.8% in 2026 so far, though this weakness is not just with this stock. I have been and remain bearish on stocks, especially large-cap stocks, but I bought a technology ETF, the State Street SPDR S&P 500 Software & Services ETF, that is down 23.1% year-to-date and includes Workday. It also includes some very large companies and some that I really like. The reason these stocks are down so much appears to be concerns about AI potentially leading to the demise of software-as-a-service (SaaS).

As a fan of AI but one who has concerns about it, I have paid close attention to it, though I don’t pay for any service. I started using ChatGPT last year, and tested it with the world that I know, cannabis stocks. I wasn’t happy with the answers it provided to my questions. I recently began using Claude, which I do like better. I have never written about artificial intelligence and how it might help (or hurt) people trying to pick good cannabis stocks, but I am weighing in today because I don’t think the answers are quite right.

As an analyst who has followed this industry closely for more than 13 years, I know a lot. One of things I know is that I don’t know everything about cannabis stocks, and I certainly can’t predict the future precisely. I like that people can use the internet to do their research, and it is a lot better than when I was a kid. The investing world then operated on faxes, and investors were forced to deal with stock brokers. AI can potentially take individuals further with their stock research.

I started writing this article before seeing this example, which I will discuss. I want readers to know that this is an illustration of how Claude can give pretty smart answers to questions. Asking good questions is the right thing investors should do, but knowing what to do with those answers can be challenging. I think that AI is not quite there yet, and I base this on the responses I got to certain questions. I note improvement, but for those who think that picking the right cannabis stock will result in excellent results, I urge caution. This comment goes well beyond cannabis stocks in my view. Stock picking in general can be helped by AI, but it is not fail-safe. Here is an example of a question that I asked Claude, and I think the response is very helpful:

I am not trying to impact the price of Glass House Farms, as I have literally zero exposure to it. I have known Marc Cohodes for 50 years and like and respect him. I also think that the CEO of Glass House Farms, Kyle Kazan, and his employees are doing some good things.

As I have been writing here for a while, the cannabis industry faces many challenges, the biggest of which is 280E taxation. Will 280E end? When? Cannabis stock traders and cannabis stock investors should understand that no one knows. There are many other challenges for the cannabis industry, and it extends beyond just the U.S. Can AI answer the question about which way cannabis stock will move correctly? Only if it says “up or down”.

So, if you are relying on AI to know when to buy cannabis stocks or which ones to buy, I urge caution. If you have found something that you think gives investors a solid tool for success, please let me know. I wish readers the best with cannabis stocks, which remain in a bear market that is now more than five years old.

Sincerely,

Alan

New Cannabis Ventures publishes curated articles as well as exclusive news. Here is what we published this past 3 weeks:

Exclusives

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Financial Reports

Ascend Wellness Saw Higher Operating Loss in Q4

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