Billionaire serial entrepreneur Mark Cuban says tomorrow’s leaders may be today’s kids obsessed with artificial intelligence.
“Students who use AI will produce better, more creative work and develop the technology and partnerships needed in the workplace of the future,” Cuban told CNBC Make It, adding, “Students who use AI will be best equipped to lead.”
The students who will have the greatest success with AI now and in the future will be those who use it to enhance their own critical thinking skills, rather than to replace it, Cuban said.
According to the billionaire, “students who use AI effectively know how to ask the right questions” because they are given the opportunity to spend time getting used to using the technology. “They use powerful inputs and apply critical thinking to evaluate the results. AI can help students think more broadly, but it cannot make decisions,” he said.
Don’t miss: The ultimate guide to using AI to improve your communications
According to Samsung’s new Solve for Tomorrow 2025 AI Readiness Study, 88% of U.S. teachers believe learning AI skills is important to their students’ future success. The survey was conducted among 620 public middle and high school teachers across the United States. However, the survey, which will be published in full on Monday, found that 81% are concerned that over-reliance on AI technology will undermine students’ critical thinking skills.
“Access is the biggest barrier” to students being taught how to best utilize AI tools effectively and ethically in school, Cuban added. Cuban and fellow entrepreneur Emma Grede are partnering with Samsung’s STEM resource initiative Solve for Tomorrow, which plans to distribute $2 million worth of technology and AI training resources to 500 schools in the United States this year, Samsung is expected to announce on Monday.
Educators commonly express concerns about students using AI tools to cheat, and that the information provided by AI chatbots and other models contains errors that spread misinformation. Research shows that these concerns are valid, that AI assistants can make a wide range of mistakes, and that the technology allows them to create and distribute fake images, audio, and videos with relatively little effort.
But some other experts agree with Cuban’s assertion that students need to learn how to use AI tools appropriately and productively to succeed in the workplace in the future.
“AI isn’t always a crutch. It can also be a coach,” psychologist and author Angela Duckworth said in her May 2025 commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. “In my opinion, (ChatGPT) has a hidden pedagogical superpower: teach by example.”
Cuban often compares the current AI boom to past technological revolutions, particularly the rise of computers and the Internet, which helped create Cuban’s own early entrepreneurial success. His frequent advice to students today is to spend as much time as possible getting familiar with the latest AI tools and models so they can impress future employers with their modern, rapid engineering and model customization skills.
“Every company needs it. It’s not intuitive for companies to integrate AI, it’s something that people don’t understand,” Cuban said on an Aug. 20 episode of the TBPN podcast, adding, “It’s going to be hiring left and right.”
Want to level up your AI skills? Sign up for CNBC Make It’s new online course, “How to use AI to better communicate at work by Smarter by CNBC Make It.” Get specific prompts to optimize your emails, notes, and presentations for tone, context, and audience.
Plus, sign up for the CNBC Make It newsletter for tips and tricks to succeed at work, money, and life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and colleagues.
