Not Always. Beginners can get started with AI right from the get go if the learning path is set up so they learn the basics of python , stats and data handling first off. Quite a few structured AI and machine learning courses like those I've seen at H2K Infosys will actually teach you the foundational data concepts at the same time you're learning about AI, so it's not always necessary to have data science as a separate thing to tackle first.
How Beginners Usually Approach This
You usually start off with some python, some basic maths and a basic understanding of data
You learn about data analysis as you're getting to grips with the basics of AI
Then you can progress on to building more complex machine learning models and putting AI into practice
And to top it all off you get to build some beginner projects like prediction models or a chatbot
Data fundamentals can be super important in the long run, but the good news is that a lot of beginners have successfully learned them as they were getting their head around AI.