If automation transformed work and every citizen received a universal basic income, or UBI, could these changes finally dissolve the material foundations of caste? Or would AI simply automate one of the world’s oldest systems of social classification? Social transformationThis doesn’t mean AI and a universal basic income are irrelevant to caste. The AI systems emerging alongside it will help determine how that picture is used. AI and a UBI may help create the conditions in which caste can decline.