Universal basic income (UBI) is "the worst possible response" to the unemployment likely to be caused by robots and artificial intelligence, business mogul Mark Cuban has said, putting himself in stark contrast to the growing chorus of major technology CEOs who back such a policy.

On Monday, the Dallas Mavericks owner tweeted his concern about job losses as a result of technology and said "we need to prepare for it."

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Scott Santens, a basic income advocate and writer, replied to Cuban's initial tweet asking him whether he agrees with the idea of UBI. The billionaire said it was one of the "worst possible responses."

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UBI is a policy in which governments pay each citizen the same amount of money regardless of whether they are working or not. There are many theories about how this could work in practical terms. Countries such as Finland are already trialing schemes.