Mark Cuban Hails AI as the 'Great Democratizer' for the Next Generation

Why Mark Cuban says AI is "the great democratizer"

Why it matters: The longtime "shark" and Cost Plus Drugs co-founder tells Axios the free and low-cost AI tools are giving disadvantaged teens the chance to compete with seasoned pros -- and it's changing how he does business too. Cuban, a featured speaker at the Clover x Shark Tank Summit in Las Vegas this week, shared with Axios how AI is reshaping everything from his workouts to his company's research. Editor's note: Responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity. What do you mean when you say AI is democratizing the American Dream? Cuban: "Right now, if you're a 14- to 18-year-old and you're in not so good circumstances, you have access to the best professors and the best consultants." * "It allows people who otherwise would not have access to any resources to have access to the best resources in real time. You can compete with anybody." What have you outsourced to AI at Cost Plus Drugs? Cuban: "Competitor research. I use Lovable to create apps that can compare Cost Plus Drugs' pricing to other pricing. I use it to complement Google Alerts to find stuff I otherwise couldn't find." * "There's nothing that I don't consider using it for." Are you concerned about an AI bubble? Cuban: "I don't think we're in the AI bubble that's comparable to the internet bubble." * "The difference is, the improvement in technology basically slowed to a trickle. We're nowhere near the improvement in technology slowing to a trickle in AI." What advice do you have for college students and recent graduates? Cuban: "Don't go for the big companies, go to the small companies, because most likely you've learned how to code at some level. A small company really needs you -- they want somebody who knows AI." If you were a lawmaker, what policies would you create to prepare for the AI economy? Cuban: "I'd rather deal with what we see coming out. If we see a company does A, B or C and we realize that's dangerous, [I'd rather] deal with that than trying to put roadblocks up front." * "I think the guys who run the companies that have the biggest models will try to get some regulatory capture, which protects them and punishes others, and I think that's my greater fear." How has AI changed your personal habits? Cuban: "In terms of my health and workouts, [I use it] all day, every day, just feeding in information and asking for feedback, because it builds up the memory and it starts to know me."

Mark Cuban on AI powering new American Dream: 'great democratizer' for Gen Z | Fortune

Former Shark Tank star Mark Cuban said AI is a "great" democratizer that can help disadvantaged young people get a leg up in life and the workforce. Cuban, speaking at the Clover x Shark Tank Summit this week, said the technology is essential because it gives people access to the best teachers. "Right now, if you're a 14-to-18-year-old and you're in not so good circumstances, you have access to the best professors and the best consultants," he said, according to Axios. Cuban, who has previously claimed to use AI every day, added having access to these tools is especially important to people with fewer resources. "It allows people who otherwise would not have access to any resources to have access to the best resources in real time," he said. "You can compete with anybody." Young people are especially at risk of being affected by AI. In August, a study by Stanford University found entry-level workers between the ages of 22 and 25 are increasingly having a hard time finding a job, and the effect is worse for those in sectors being upended by AI like software engineering. Yet, Cuban, who is worth $9 billion, according to Bloomberg, has for years strongly advocated for workers to embrace AI, and previously told Fortune's Nino Paoli AI will be a "baseline skill like email or Excel." Speaking to former "Shark" and Skims founder Emma Grede, on her podcast Aspire with Emma Grede, Cuban also said refusing to use the technology is a mistake. "That's like [a business owner] saying back in the day, 'I don't need to use a PC. I don't need to use the internet. I don't need a cell phone or WiFi,'" he said. For his part, Cuban has confessed to using AI for everything from writing code to evaluating his own health. Cuban, the founder of online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs, used the coding assistant Replit to make his own software to track drug prices from other companies. "Within a few minutes, it had the first pass of the software. Then, I just ran it multiple times and gave it new ideas and things I wanted," he said on a June episode of the High Performance podcast. When he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, Cuban used AI to track his medications and his workouts. To be sure, Cuban said that while the technology is advanced, an expert programmer could do better and noted the tech has its limitations. "It's like talking to a friend who you think knows a lot about something," said Cuban on the High Performance podcast. "You've still got to be careful and talk to an expert."