Every few months the market latches onto a theme and runs with it until the only thing left behind is common sense. Artificial intelligence is the current version of that. The rush to buy anything connected to it has created what some are calling a panic rally. People who have no business picking individual technology stocks are doing it anyway, because they do not want to miss out.

The Global X Artificial Intelligence & Big Data ETF, ticker AIQ, is getting attention as one way to participate without betting your retirement on a single company whose technology you probably cannot fully evaluate. I do not hold AIQ. I am not recommending you buy it. But the structure is worth understanding if you feel exposed to the AI trend in either direction.

AIQ tracks an index of companies involved in artificial intelligence and big data. It holds roughly 80 to 90 names, weighted by a combination of market capitalization and a proprietary scoring system that tries to identify firms with the most meaningful AI exposure. The fund rebalances twice a year, which means it adjusts its holdings as the landscape shifts. The expense ratio is 0.68 percent. That is not cheap compared to a total market index fund but it is reasonable for a thematic product.

The appeal is straightforward. Instead of trying to figure out whether Nvidia, AMD, Microsoft, or some company nobody has heard of yet will dominate AI over the next decade, you own a basket of them. If one blows up, it does not sink your entire position. The fund also reaches beyond the obvious names into companies providing the data infrastructure, cloud services, and semiconductor equipment that make AI possible.

Now here is where I push back, gently. I have written before that most investors should stick to broad index funds because accurately predicting which specific sector will outperform over long periods is incredibly difficult. A thematic ETF like AIQ solves the single-stock risk problem. It does not solve the timing problem. If you buy AIQ after the AI trade has already been bid up to nosebleed levels, you are still buying expensive stocks. The basket just means you own a lot of expensive stocks instead of one.

Then there is the question of what happens when the AI narrative cools off. I lived through the dot-com bubble. The companies that survived went on to change the world. But plenty of investors still lost money because they paid the wrong price, even for the eventual winners. Thematic funds do not protect you from that. They concentrate your exposure at the moment when concentration is most dangerous.

If you already own a total stock market fund, you own these AI companies already. You own them at their market weight, alongside everything else, which is how I prefer to hold them. For someone determined to make a separate bet on AI specifically, AIQ is a more sensible vehicle than picking three tech stocks and hoping for the best. Just understand what you are doing. You are making an active sector bet, not building a foundation.

Keep your core position diversified and boring. If you want to put a small percentage of your portfolio into a thematic play like this, that is your call. Just do not confuse enthusiasm for a strategy.

As always, I am sharing perspective, not professional financial advice. Talk to someone who knows your specific situation before making investment decisions.