Mark Cuban Has 2 Words for People Who Don’t Want to Learn AI

Skims founding partner and sometimes visiting Shark Tank Shark Emma Grede was never an AI skeptic, exactly. In 2023, she offered a cash bonus to her staff for finding creative ways to use AI in their work. But she herself was mostly just using ChatGPT as an occasional replacement for Google search. “I’m using AI like a 42-year-old woman,” she joked in a recent Fortune interview. Then she had former Shark Mark Cuban on her podcast. Turns out the billionaire founder and former Mavs owner has strong words — two, to be exact — for people like Grede who are dragging their feet on experimenting with AI. Talking to Cuban was enough to convince Grede to change her approach. She started Googling class on AI and downloading AI apps immediately. The episode “gave me a new urgency around how I use AI,” she told Fortune. “He gave me a kick.” It might be just the kick you need too. Not learning AI? Mark Cuban says “you’re f***ed” On her podcast, Grede didn’t ask Cuban about AI. She asked him about how to get started with a business idea. But the billionaire entrepreneur insisted that now, there’s no difference between going from idea to execution and utilizing AI. You need the latter to do the former fast and well. “The first thing you have to do is learn AI,” Cuban responded. “Whether it’s ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, you’ve got to spend tons and tons and tons of time just learning how it works and how to ask it questions.” Noodling around with new tools and asking various AI models questions is how Cuban is spending his time at the moment. And he has no patience for founders and others in business who aren’t doing the same. “What do you say to someone who is like, ‘I don’t like AI. I don’t want any more technology in my life’?” Grede asked. Cuban’s answer was short, punchy, and profane: “You’re f***ed.” Is Mark Cuban right? Cuban went on to explain that the current moment is much like his early career at the dawn of the internet age. New, hugely disruptive technology is rolling out at an incredible rate. Those who don’t run to keep up are going to end up as roadkill. Saying you don’t want to use AI, he says, “is like people saying back in the day, I don’t want to use the PC. I don’t want to use the internet. I don’t need a cellphone, Wi-Fi.” Those businesses died. Is he right in making the comparison? He’s certainly correct that those around you are adopting AI at a rate equal to or greater than the rate at which the internet took off. Harvard researchers have compared recent data on AI usage to government data on the uptake of new technology at the turn of the millennium. They found more people are using AI more quickly these days than people started adopting the internet back then. “The usage rate [for AI] … is actually higher than both personal computers and the internet at the same stage in their product cycles,” the trio of researchers explained to The Harvard Gazette. No one can predict the future. And the breathlessness of some discussions of AI certainly suggest that the hype will exceed the reality in plenty of areas. We may yet witness an AI “trough of disillusionment” or even crash. But the numbers strongly suggest that Mark Cuban is on to something when he says that ignoring AI is just not a viable option. What happened to businesses that ignored the internet? “If you were to go back to 1984 and tell people, ‘Hey, there’s this new thing called the personal computer. I have a crystal ball. Twenty years from now, everybody’s going to have one of these and every single new technological development and every single new product is going to be using it as the base.’ Knowing that now, what would you do differently?” the Harvard researchers ask. “You could make billions and billions of dollars,” they add. According to their data, they say, “it sure looks like generative AI is going to be on that scale,” and “the spoils will go to people who can figure out how to harness it first and best.” How to get started with AI If you’re convinced, how do you start learning AI? Playing around with new tools and technologies as Cuban suggests is certainly a good first step. Elsewhere, Cuban — along with other tech icons like Tim Cook and Bill Gates — has outlined specific ways he’s using AI, which could give you additional ideas. Other AI experts have advice as well. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has talked on multiple occasions about how he’s personally experimenting with AI. OpenAI president Greg Brockman has offered advice on honing your AI prompting skills. No one knows exactly how the AI revolution will play out, or even the best way to start to prepare. But even the skeptics should probably heed Mark Cuban’s words and admit that AI is going to change the world. If you stick your head in the sand, you’re doomed. Better start experimenting today so you can be prepared however this thing plays out. EXPERT OPINION BY JESSICA STILLMAN @ENTRYLEVELREBEL