Mark Cuban: Robots will ‘cause unemployment and we need to prepare for it’

Automation will lead to unemployment and the world needs to prepare for it, business mogul Mark Cuban urged on Monday, following warnings from technology leaders on the impact of robots and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Dallas Mavericks owner did not elaborate or offer recommendations but tweeted his message followed by a link.

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Cuban's tweet follows an interview with CNBC on Friday in which he said President Donald Trump and his administration do not understand technology advancements.

"I'm willing to bet that these companies building new plants ... this will lead to fewer people being employed," Cuban told CNBC, adding that "people aren't going to have jobs."

"How does [Trump] deal with displaced workers?" Cuban asked.

The "Shark Tank" judge is an investor in large technology companies including Amazon and Netflix. Cuban's comments come after major technology chief executives have warned about the impact of automation and AI on jobs.

Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke about autonomous cars and progress in that area happening "much faster than people realize".

"But there are many people whose jobs are to drive. In fact I think it might be the single largest employer of people ... Driving in various forms. So we need to figure out new roles for what do those people do, but it will be very disruptive and very quick," Musk said.

Musk, among others, has been speaking about ways to deal with the displacement, including a growing chorus of voices in the technology industry calling for a universal basic income.

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Mark Cuban

Meanwhile, Microsoft founder Bill Gates recommended last week that robots who took over human jobs should pay taxes.

"If a human worker does $50,000 of work in a factory, that income is taxed," Gates told Quartz.