Tuesday, January 20, 2026

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Tuesday, January 20, 2026 | Latest Paper

AI presents potential, and aspects that should give us pause

Complex technologies—whether AI or the next frontier in defence research, climate change, or cancer—require support from social sciences and humanities to explain the new technology according to the social and ethical norms by which we live.

Innovation for a public purpose

Unfortunately, Canadian governments have focused too much on subsidizing technology ‘creation’ by a few firms, instead of widespread technology ‘adoption’ by all firms. To improve Canadian productivity we need to pivot and support widespread technology adoption.

Let’s go on the offensive and score

The evidence is clear: one-size-fits-all programs no longer work. Government support must be tailored to firms’ actual needs, with measurable objectives and transparent results.

The coming AI crash

Far too much money is being spent on long-odds bets that some new artificial intelligence tech will appear that justifies the current ridiculously high level of investment.