Computer scientist Zachary Chase Lipton hates the term artificial intelligence, which he says gives people the wrong idea. He prefers to call it machine learning. Lipton, who used to earn his living as a musician, would be a dream example for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who are hoping to retrain Canada's underemployed to serve a resurgent artificial intelligence industry. But the AI whiz says retraining may not be enough to prevent a wave of social disruption when the tech economy leaves the poor and middle class behind. Lipton is not one to scoff at the opportunities offered by retraining.

The struggle between economies based on government planning and the unhindered free market was supposed to have been settled years ago when the Soviet Union crumbled. Now it appears the battle between planning and the invisible hand may be back on and it's still not absolutely clear which side will win. This week China announced a new set of government plans to boost its economy. By contrast, the U.S. moved toward a new round of deregulation with the same intent. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the triumph of free market, laissez-faire capitalism seemed complete. Although the Soviet Communist system had demonstrated transformational successes, like catching up to the West in heavy industry, nuclear science and space technology, the top-down command economy proved unsustainable.

Economically, having a human being drive your taxi is crazy. Google knows it and so does Uber, according to news this week. While it may be hard to believe, I predict taxi drivers are on the verge of going the way of the bus conductor. And those freelance drivers who have been Ubering the regular old-fashioned cabbies? They are about to be Ubered themselves.