“If I were 16, 18, 21, starting today, I would spend every waking minute learning about AI…” – Mark Cuban

Jul 06, 2025 Features / Columnists, News

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By Karen Abrams, MBA, AA, Doctoral Candidate

Kaieteur News – In many ways, Mark Cuban’s words describe my lived experience. My dissertation explores how AI can improve academic outcomes for vulnerable learners. I code with AI, use it to streamline our organization’s workflows, consult with U.S. educational systems on AI training for teachers, and fall asleep each night to the voices of leading thinkers on AI podcasts. I believe the rise of artificial intelligence will be the most defining force of our lifetime. That’s why our leadership team has committed to ensuring our organization leads the way in AI education in the K–12 technology space. We simply can’t wait for the rest of the country to catch up. AI is here. AI is now. And the next generation of Guyana’s leaders must be prepared today to compete in the global AI arena.

Mark Cuban’s words hit like a thunderbolt: “If I were 16, 18, 21, starting today, I would spend every waking minute learning about AI. Even if I’m sleeping, I’m listening to podcasts talking about AI. And then I’m trying everything, because there’s so much changing that rapidly.” His urgency puts words to what I’ve been feeling, and living, from our corner of the Caribbean.

The truth is uncomfortable but undeniable, AI isn’t coming. It’s here. It’s already reshaping how we work, how we live, and how we think. The real question for Guyana, and for the developing world more broadly, is how we will respond. Will we become passive consumers of someone else’s innovation? Or will we participate fully in shaping our digital future?

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, delivered a sobering reality check when he warned that “countries that do not prioritize AI development will be left behind not just in business, but geopolitically.” These words land differently when you live in a country where schools are under-resourced, power outages are common, and our brightest minds often leave for opportunities elsewhere.

Still, I remain hopeful. I believe in our people. I see the potential in our youth. And I see that many parents aren’t waiting for the government to act, they’re stepping up to prepare their children for this unpredictable 21st-century reality. Muthoni Wanyoike, the visionary Co-founder of Nairobi Women in Data Science and an organizer of one of Africa’s largest AI conferences, captured it perfectly, “We don’t need self-driving cars. We need better planning.” She reminds us that our (developing world) AI dreams must be rooted in our realities. She also challenges us to localize our AI responses, to ensure AI works for us, in our context, with our experts leading the way.

In Guyana, AI could revolutionize how we tackle agricultural inefficiencies, climate resilience, education gaps, and healthcare access. But this will require much more than just tech tools. It demands a national strategy where students are trained, teachers are equipped, governments are aligned, and innovators are unleashed, without fear or political favor.

Yet even as we imagine these possibilities, we must face AI’s environmental costs. Training a single large model like GPT-3 generated as much carbon as five cars would emit over their lifetimes (Strubell et al., 2019). If we’re serious about building a sustainable digital future, this matters. That’s why breakthroughs like DeepSeek, an energy-efficient model that maintains performance while using less energy, are critical. And that’s also why the global race toward viable nuclear fusion is so important. Nuclear fusion, the same reaction that powers stars, offers the promise of clean, abundant energy, and could drastically reduce the carbon footprint of AI, making participation more accessible to every nation.

We also can’t ignore the ethical stakes. Who decides what data is used? Who takes responsibility when AI systems reinforce bias or enable mass surveillance? These questions aren’t abstract, they shape how just, fair, and humane the future will be for everyone.

We’re already seeing the consequences. Microsoft’s recent layoff of 15,000 workers, tied in part to AI automation, is a chilling reminder of what’s at stake (Reuters, 2025). If engineers are being replaced, what does that mean for call center workers in Georgetown? In this new economy, those who master AI will not only survive, they’ll thrive.

So what should we do in Guyana? We prepare, deliberately. We train our teachers in AI. We introduce Scratch and Python in every afterschool program. We teach prompt engineering. We draft AI governance strategies. We push for open data policies. We partner with regional experts. We launch fellowships and seed funds for youth-led AI innovation. In short, we build a future that reflects our needs, our dreams, and our voices.

Cuban is right,  the urgency is real. But this moment also offers us something rare, a second chance to leapfrog into a future we help create. If I were 21 again, I’d still listen to every podcast. But I’d also be building every day, for a future where the next generation of Guyanese doesn’t just consume technology, but shapes it.

The AI revolution is here. Let’s make sure we’re not just along for the ride, we’re in the driver’s seat.

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• Artificial Intellegence, Eric Schmidt, Karen Abrams, Mark Cuban

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