Can you tinker your way out of the permanent underclass?

The doomsday advice industrial complex

The rapid growth of AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude has, for some, created a deep fear of falling behind.

AI has people terrified about the future of employment. And that terror has naturally begotten advice columns about how to personally come out ahead (especially by joining the class of people who sell advice on how to personally come out ahead).

With the rise of AI systems and tools, many an early adopter has comforted himself with the hope that familiarity will exempt him from the “permanent underclass.”

Matt Shumer, CEO of OthersideAI, argued “I know the people who will come out of this best are the ones who start engaging now — not with fear, but with curiosity and a sense of urgency.” He warned that “most people won’t hear it until it’s too late.”

Axios CEO Jim VandeHei, true to form, sent a more in-your-face warning signal out to his own staff: “you are committing career suicide if you’re not aggressively experimenting with AI.”

A viral blog post titled “The Normie Handbook for Escaping the Permanent Underclass” argued that, “if you keep doing exactly what you’re doing right now, you will end up in the permanent underclass.” To avoid such a dismal fate, workers should be using AI to help automate workflows and build custom automations, the author argued.

But, man, if you’re worried about this, the thing to do is politics. Whether or not “a permanent underclass” emerges and whether or not you will be a part of it will have little to do with whether you began tinkering with Claude in 2025 or 2026. AI tools are changing so fast that any advantage to being an early adopter vanishes as fast as it accrues.