The development of biotechnology and artificial intelligence will lead to the division of mankind into two categories: a small class of "superhumans" and a huge category of "useless" people. The increase in inequality will occur when the masses lose their economic and political power, the historian from Israel Yuval Noi Harari, author of the book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, told in The Guardian column.

Harari says that the best armies in the world no longer rely on ordinary soldiers, but use a relatively small number of highly professional experts who use high-tech devices, drones and robots. "Already today, most people are useless from a military point of view," the author notes. According to his predictions, the same can happen soon in the civil economy.

Artificial intelligence is likely to continue to replace people in the workplace. Harari admits that robotics can create new professions, but this will not solve the problem. The historian says that people have two types of skills: physical and cognitive. If computers bypass people in each of them, then they will surpass us in both new and old occupations. Billions of people can become completely incapable of working, and we will see the emergence of a "useless class" of people.

Progress in biotechnology and bioengineering can lead us to the point at which it becomes possible to translate economic inequalities into biological inequalities. Soon, technology will create the human body and brain, and improve physical and cognitive capabilities. Such technologies are likely to prove costly and will only be available to the rich and famous. "Consequently, humanity can split into biological castes," Harari predicts.

"By 2100, rich people can really become more talented, creative and intelligent than residents of the poorest urban neighborhoods. As soon as a real gap opens between the rich and the poor, it will be almost impossible to cut it, "the historian believes.

Yuval Noah Harari cites Britain's transport market as an example. Now the drivers of trucks, taxis and buses have political power, as each of them owns a small share in this market: they can unite and begin a strike that will block the entire transport system if they do not like the actions of the government.

"Now we will move forward for 30 years. All vehicles are autonomous. An algorithm that controls the entire transport market is managed by one corporation. All the economic and political power, which used to be shared by thousands, is now in the hands of several billionaires who own the corporation. When the masses lose their economic importance and political power, the state will lose the incentives to invest in their health, education and well-being, "Harari explains.

According to the historian, in countries with long traditions of humanistic convictions and developed social systems such as Great Britain, the elites will continue to care for the masses, even if they do not need them. The real problem will concern the large developing countries, such as India, China, South Africa and Brazil.

In the short term, power can move from the masses to small elites who own the basic algorithms and data for their work. In the long term, it can completely switch from human to algorithm. "As soon as artificial intelligence becomes smarter than the entire human elite, the whole of mankind can become superfluous. What will happen after that? We have no idea - we literally can not imagine this, "Harari said.

In the 21st century, the strengthening of biotechnology and artificial intelligence will change the world. However, this will not lead to any definite result. So, Harari compares North and South Korea: the countries had access to the same technologies, but they used them in different ways.