AI and the New Currency of Hierarchy: Thinking as Class Marker

Paweł Skała-Piękoś argues that AI doesn’t erase hierarchy; it reshapes its value system. What used to be a respected skill—being articulate—has become more ordinary, shifting how we access information and think. He identifies three transformation tiers: the top involves energy and computing power, the middle focuses on infrastructure and model accessibility, and the bottom relates to our personal thinking processes. The new social capital is based on thinking skills like asking good questions and owning up to errors, yet it may become a privilege passed through families. He critiques various political views: the right aims for hierarchy, liberals overlook quality differences, and the left's opposition creates its own hierarchy. Writing from Central and Eastern Europe, he warns this could either connect hierarchy to function or become a complex inheritance. This essay utilized AI tools (ChatGPT 5.5 and Claude Opus 4.8) for support and translation from Polish to English.