Artificial intelligence has lit a fire underneath tech stocks, but investors are split over whether the much-hyped innovation will transform business models and turbocharge productivity, or whether it will mirror the much-promised but little delivered outcomes of previous hot areas like 3D printing and blockchain.

Australian tech stocks like NextDC, Appen and Temple & Webster have soared higher, following US-based chip manufacturer Nvidia’s revelations last week that sales for the next quarter would beat expectations by more than 50 per cent, thanks to the global interest in AI which underpins the popular ChatGPT bot.