I've spent much of the summer talking with technology executives about artificial intelligence. The only word I hear more often than AI is abundance. Not far behind is socialism, usually accompanied by bewilderment.

Why, they wonder, are so many Americans, especially young ones, attracted to an economic system that has failed spectacularly elsewhere?\n\nThe abundance pitch is hard to resist. Intelligence becomes cheap. Productivity soars.

Scientific discovery accelerates. We live longer, get richer. Where do I sign up? Then I ruin the mood by asking: Abundance for whom? Who decides? It may be the fastest way to end a conversation since I asked the Harvard economics department what we were doing about minority hiring.\n\nMost people assume I'm headed toward taxes or universal basic income.

But I'm not asking how we divide the wealth AI creates. I'm asking a prior question: What will we use AI to create in the first place? Before we divide the spoils, entrepreneurs and investors have to decide which problems are worth solving.