The new buzzword shaking the global business arena is machine learning. It's grabbed the public's imagination, conjuring up images of self-learning AI and robots in the future. Machine learning has prepared the path for technical advancements and tools in manufacturing that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. It drives the breakthrough technologies that sustain our ways of living, from prediction machines to online TV live streaming. If words like deep learning, neural learning, and artificial intelligence spark your interest, we have a great list of free machine learning courses you can begin with right now.

In the past year there's been a bit of a careers and job scare when it comes to artificial intelligence, automation, and related technologies. Big consulting firms have conducted studies about the future of jobs and whether they will be lost to artificial intelligence. The consensus is that jobs will be lost, while some jobs will be created. "The development of automation enabled by technologies including robotics and artificial intelligence brings the promise of higher productivity (and with productivity, economic growth), increased efficiencies, safety, and convenience," said McKinsey in a study released last year. "But these technologies also raise difficult questions about the broader impact of automation on jobs, skills, wages, and the nature of work itself."