AI companies are losing the public opinion battle: Mark Cuban has a solution “being hated is not good for business”

Seven in ten respondents to a Gallup poll said that they oppose construction of data centers that support AI technology in their local communities. One of the major concerns is the environmental impact of these computer warehouses as well as a deterioration they will cause in the local quality of life.

However, Mark Cuban says “it’s time for everyone to realize that the fight against data centers has nothing to do with data centers. They have become a proxy for the hate towards AI and the concentration and accumulation of wealth it’s creating.”

Americans are more wary about how AI will affect their daily lives in the future these days than they were just a few years ago. According to a Pew Research study, half of those surveyed feel more concerned than excited about the technology compared with just 10% that stated the contrary.

In a message he posted on social media, the billionaire businessman made some recommendations about what AI companies can do to salvage their standing among a wary public.

Mark Cuban tells AI companies: “start a community tour”

The former ‘Shark Tank’ investor says that while he is a believer in the net gains AI will bring in a matter of a few years, it is “too late” for companies to explain the technology’s benefits to those who feel threatened by it. Furthermore, it’s a losing battle that “is only going to get more intense,” he posited, “no matter how much you pay to buy politicians and races.”

Neither should they go about hiring famous people to put a positive spin on what their companies are doing, calling that idea “dumb.” Additionally, these AI companies need to take the blinders off and stop trying to sell people that their AI technologies will save the world and instead put people first, something which he says “they all suck at.”

“One thing I have learned is being hated is not good for business,” Cuban observes. For these reasons, he advises that AI companies “start a community tour,” where they go out to “help towns and cities that may be impacted by job losses.”

But in order for this to work, “you will need to do what they ask.” And this could involve investing billions of dollars in programs for cities and towns across America. “It’s a cost of doing business,” he notes.

Likewise, they need to have a dialogue with the arts and creative unions in Los Angeles and New York City, because “every creative I know is TERRIFIED about what AI will do to their profession,” he explains. Cuban advises them, however, against having that conversation with just the music or film companies saying, “that will make it worse.”

“Given the number of data centers and power that is needed, today and going forward, if you don’t kiss the asses of the people that go to work every day, and are just trying to pay their bills, you will fall far far short of the capacity you need to make your business work,” he concludes.

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