Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban says that artificial intelligence has the potential to generate more wealth for a single person than any individual has ever accumulated before.
Specifically, Cuban predicts that AI will help create the world's first trillionaire, he said on a recent episode of the podcast "High Performance." That person will be someone who is able to harness AI in a yet-to-be-discovered way, he added.
'We haven't seen the best, or the craziest, of what [AI] is going to be able to do," said the 66-year-old former "Shark Tank" star. "Not only do I think it'll create a trillionaire, but it could be just one dude in the basement. That's how crazy it could be."
Currently, some people use generative AI to automate everyday tasks like making schedules and to-do lists. Others see AI as a virtual companion, guiding them on how to have difficult conversations or using them for personal reassurance. In the corporate world, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright told Fortune on June 9 that AI tools had cut his company's hiring time by 75%.
That's only the "preseason" of AI's capabilities, Cuban said.
"Remember the early days of PCs and people were like, 'I don't need that. ... What's this internet thing? Why do we need it?' Then it was smartphones," said Cuban. "We'll find something equivalent for AI and then, five years [later] ... people will be like, 'How did I live without it?' People will make a lot of money."
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"I'm not saying we're going to get the Terminator," he added. "I'm not saying that all of a sudden, there are going to be robots that are smarter than people ... But we'll find ways to make our lives better."
There are a few problems that come with AI, like it's potential to displace jobs — tech companies like Shopify and Fiverr are strongly urging their employees to learn AI skills, and Duolingo will gradually stop using contractors for tasks that can be completed by artificial intelligence
People have also misused AI to carry out online scams and hoaxes, perpetrate cyber attacks and create and spread misinformation.
AI also has a significant environmental impact, as data centers require a lot of energy and water to keep their processors cool and running smoothly. Researchers found that training a model like Open AI's GPT-3, for example, requires 1,287 megawatt hours of electricity, which is enough to power about 120 homes in the United States for a year.
But given how quickly the technology is evolving, Cuban argues that you'll do yourself a disservice if you don't at least try to familiarize yourself with AI.
"Download Gemini from Google. Download ChatGPT ... and just ask your questions about anything," he said. "But don't assume the answers are right. And when you find something you don't agree with, tell the AI you don't agree with it," to improve the bot's performance and address any biases it may have.
"You have to realize that it's not actually thinking ... It's not actually smart," Cuban added. "But what it can do is find information and package it in a way that people can understand."
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