Just yesterday we discussed this book [1] on probabilistic programming here on HN [2]. That book is, by all definitions, an advanced book about AI. How many people without a PhD can read that? How many people with a PhD can read it?From the abstract:
This document is designed to be a first-year graduate-level introduction to probabilistic programming. It not only provides a thorough background for anyone wishing to use a probabilistic programming system, but also introduces the techniques needed to design and build these systems. It is aimed at people who have an undergraduate-level understanding of either or, ideally, both probabilistic machine learning and programming languages.
Thanks to the Internet, how many people who have that prerequisite "undergraduate-level understanding of either or, ideally, both probabilistic machine learning and programming languages" now have access to this material, who otherwise might not have? And thanks to the Internet (Khan Academy, Coursera, OCW, Udacity, Fast.ai, 3blue1brown@youtube, etc.) how many people now have the ability to gain that prerequisite knowledge without investing tens of thousands of dollars in a university degree? Especially people who might not have been able to afford to take time off from working to attend University in the first place?
While in the end you may be right that AI specifically does wind up driving inequality, I think there are strong arguments that technology / the 'net in a general sense also serve to advance equality.