Here’s How AI Could Disrupt the Precious Metals Sector

 

Could AI Disrupt the Precious Metals Sector? 

AI is everywhere. It’s in our search engines, our government, and even our Coca-Cola ads! Although the precious metals industry has been a fixture of the world’s economy for thousands of years, the sector is no stranger to change. In fact, the mining industry that underpins all of our gold, silver, and platinum trades has always been quick to adopt new technology to improve efficiency. So as countless industries are disrupted and shaken by new advances in artificial intelligence, we shouldn’t expect the precious metals industry to be an exception. 

In fact, 2025 is already shaping up to be a major year for AI-powered innovation in the bullion industry. Aside from heightened demand for gold, silver, and platinum to build the technology necessary to advance artificial intelligence development, AI could very well play a key role in the way we identify, authenticate, buy, and sell precious metals in the next couple of decades. How do we know this? Well, it’s already starting to happen! 

In this Bullion Academy analysis, learn more about the various ways that AI might disrupt, change, and innovate how the precious metals industry operates. 

AI and Increased Precious Metal Demand 

In as early as 2023, news sites were reporting that the AI revolution may fuel heightened demand for precious metals. The World Gold Council confirmed this prediction in November of 2024, saying that the ongoing AI boom is “likely to drive demand for gold,” a conductive metal used for a wide range of AI-powered and AI-adjacent technologies. Gold and copper are two more metals experiencing a boom as AI continues to dominate the tech sector. 

The evidence suggests that our AI boom is far from over. As demand for high-powered, efficient AI energy sources, devices, and tools increases, analysts expect that the precious metals market will also experience a hefty demand crunch. 

Gold, Silver, and Platinum Demand in the AI Era

All three of the most commonly traded precious metals are primed to be hot commodities during the ongoing AI revolution. Gold, silver, platinum, and even copper are all considered highly efficient conductors, a quality that the AI sector can really never get enough of. 

How will AI impact precious metal demand in 2025? It’s tough to predict specific numbers, but the AI sector is primed to be a major driver of demand for gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals heading into 2025 – and beyond. Reuters reports that the exponential growth of the AI sector could add as much as one million tons of copper demand by the end of 2030. 

AI May Revolutionize Coin/Bar Authentication

Aside from demand, AI is already set to revolutionize the way consumers, mints, and even governments authenticate and identify precious metal products. MKS PAMP recently announced the release of a new generation of gold bars fitted with AI-powered authentication technology. Each bar in the new series will be linked to a custom neural network of information stored in a central depository, making it easier than ever for consumers to confirm the authenticity of their MKS PAMP gold bars. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg, though, as far as AI’s impact on the precious metals market is concerned. It’s hard to imagine that governments won’t eventually grab onto this new application of artificial intelligence to deter counterfeiters and improve the security of sovereign mint bullion coins. 

Could AI be Used To Identify and Grade Coins? 

Although artificial intelligence still has a few major limitations, AI is extremely effective at analyzing text and photographs to recognize patterns. If you have any experience with coin identification and grading, you already know where this is heading. Numismatists have long talked about the possibility of a smartphone app capable of identifying coin by picture, but it seems that AI may have been the piece of the puzzle creators needed to finally make the dream a reality. 

Can AI correctly identify and grade coins? CoinSnap is a mobile app that uses artificial intelligence to allow users to identify and quickly estimate the value of coins. Coin Week tested the app using 15 coins, and the AI was able to correctly identify 14 of them. Not bad! The technology still has a ways to go before it can effectively grade the same coins, Coin Week says, since grading is such a subjective process and can take years to learn. 

AI’s Role in Increasing Metals Market Trend Monitoring 

Of course, not all precious metal traders invest in physical bullion. The impact of AI on the precious metals industry may be even more profound in the ETF and speculatory markets, according to some experts. AI’s ability to spot patterns more quickly than humans is one of the things that made it into a multi-billion dollar industry, and precious metal traders may have a lot to gain from leveraging the new technology in their portfolios. 

AI-powered stock trading systems were already a breakout industry in 2024, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down this year. Because AI neural networks are so fast and can analyze so many statistics at once, some evidence suggests that these platforms may be the future of how humans trade stocks and build their portfolios. Although the gold and silver markets can be difficult – if not impossible – to predict sometimes, models capable of quickly evaluating trendlines, key indicators, and geopolitical stressors could help traders make sounder precious metal investment decisions. 

This is all speculation, though. For now, it’s unclear whether or not AI-powered trade assistants are capable of making more effective trades than knowledgeable investors who keep up with the spot prices of precious metals. 

Is AI Art Coming To Bullion Coins, Bars, and Rounds? 

AI art was a subject of significant controversy in 2024, and this trend isn’t likely to go away in 2025. Artificial intelligence was used to produce a highly controversial Coca-Cola commercial during the 2024-25 NCAA College Football season, making Coca-Cola one of the largest companies to platform AI-generated art on the global stage. If AI is going to become a tool for U.S. Mint designers, though, it probably still has far to go. 

Will AI change the way bullion products are designed? It’s unlikely that we’ll see large mints use AI art for their bullion coins in the near future. The United States Mint and other government mints tend to only approve coin designs after long processes and several rounds of evaluation from government entities. At least in the United States, coinage occupies a near-sacred place in the imaginations of citizens – and the government. It’s hard to imagine that any large government mint would turn to AI to save a few dollars, considering the prestige and respect conferred to mint artists. 

The private sector may be another story entirely. Although we couldn’t find any examples of largescale AI-generated art on existing rounds or bars, AI assistance may help small operations develop and improve on existing designs. And as AI image generation becomes more effective, we can expect quite a few companies to leverage this technology to improve the way they design new products. 

2024’s Lessons – What Can We Learn About AI in the Bullion Industry? 

There’s a reason that some experts compare the AI revolution to the “Dot Com Boom” of the early 2000s. AI has already been one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st century, and it most certainly isn’t going away anytime soon. In 2024, AI boosted demand for precious metals, introduced new tools for collectors to identify and evaluate coins, and even added a novel way for companies to help consumers authenticate their gold bars. 

For the average precious metals investor, coin identification and authentication using AI will likely be the most persistent applications of artificial intelligence in the near future. Outside of these applications, AI still has quite a few obstacles to overcome before it is capable of truly upending the precious metals industry. 

AI Authentication and Identification is Closer Than Ever

As Coin Week found, AI-powered coin identification apps are becoming more and more efficient. In their trial of CoinSnap, the app was able to identify all but one out of 15 different coins. The app struggled with ancient coins and is not yet able to grade coins, though, so the technology isn’t quite ready to upend the coin identification cottage industry. 

What might the future hold for AI-powered coin valuation applications? It’s tough to say. If AI tools are able to reliably grade coins, it could have a range of disruptive implications for the numismatics industry. As it stands, getting a reliable, consistent grade for a coin can be a costly and time-intensive process. If every collector is able to quickly and reliably grade coins at home, expect big changes in the coin grading sector. 

Notable Obstacles Still Persist

Here’s the catch, though – AI tools may never be able to offer the same grading authority or experience that a trained numismatist can. Coin grading and valuation are two highly subjective processes, and collectors defer to the assumed experience and expertise of a grader in order to trust the grade given to a coin. For now, it seems unlikely that AI-powered coin grading will be on the menu anytime soon. 

When it comes to design, AI is still not consistent enough to be a reliable disrupter for the coinage industry. While AI image generation has come a long way since the industry’s infancy, but people are also getting better at spotting AI. If the U.S. Mint were to replace its renowned coin engravers with hollow, AI-generated designs, the public outcry would likely be swift – and loud. Will this change in the next decade as AI art continues to get better? Only time will tell. 

Looking Forward: How Will AI Impact the Precious Metals Market in 2025? 

AI was a major player in the precious metals market last year. The artificial intelligence industry boosted demand for metals, introduced new tools for consumers and companies to identify and authenticate products, and more. Heading into 2025, we see no evidence to suggest that AI’s influence on the metals industry will decrease. In fact, if 2024 taught us anything, it’s that AI’s impact on markets is only getting started. 

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