useless class

plural useless classes

1. human sciencesA segment of the population that can no longer contribute to society due to artificial intelligence having supplanted the roles they were previously able to fulfill.

   2 more examples

   In the 19th century the Industrial Revolution created a huge urban proletariat, and socialism spread because no other creed managed to answer the unprecedented needs, hopes and fears of this new working class. Liberalism eventually defeated socialism only by adopting the best parts of the socialist program. In the 21st century we might witness the creation of a massive new unworking class: people devoid of any economic, political or even artistic value, who contribute nothing to the prosperity, power and glory of society. This “useless class” will not merely be unemployed — it will be unemployable.

   2017 February 24, Yuval Noah Harari, “The rise of the useless class”, in TED, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2022

   We should be preparing ourselves not just for AI and automation to wipe out unprecedented numbers of jobs, but for the technical solutions posed by the AI leaders to also pose a threat to human mental health. We need to start preparing now as a society, rather than hoping that others and not ourselves will be included in “the useless class.”

   2025 February 11, Ewan Morrison, “Surviving Within Artificial Intelligence's Useless Class”, in Psychology Today, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2025