WEBVTT - Why will.i.am Says Human Creativity Will Survive AI 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:07.200 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:15.040 AI is just like the world's biggest sampler. It's sampled everything, 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:19.920 whether it's books, language. The machine is freaking amazing, but 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:23.640 humans are even more amazing. We made the machine. 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:29.080 Will I Am, musician and technologist. You don't ever worry 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:31.880 about like the amount of material being scraped, that being 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:35.160 AI generated versions of yours. You can accept that you're. 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.360 Asking the wrong question, the question you should ask you. 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.520 Are you worried that you don't own your voice? Everybody, 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:46.040 not just musicians, every single person needs to own their data, 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.080 their essence, their likeness. You got to use your imagination 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.479 and push industries to protect people in this new realm 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:52.879 that we're in. 0:00:54.840 --> 0:01:00.680 From Bloomberg Weekend. This is the Michelle Hussein Showl Hussein. 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.040 It's now more than thirty years since a group came 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.520 together in Los Angeles who went on to become known 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:14.240 all over the world as the Black Eyed Peas. For 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:18.640 that entire time, they've had the same frontman, will I Am, 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.160 who was raised by a single mother, and in fact 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:26.040 it is with her that his long and deep journey 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:30.200 into music began, because when he was fourteen, she bought 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:34.959 him a Boombox, and by seventeen he had a record deal. 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:40.360 Since then, he has won multiple Grammys and he's produced 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:44.600 other artists too. But what I think is really intriguing 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.480 about him, certainly compared to many others in the creative industries, 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:55.360 is his attitude not only to technology but to AI. Essentially, 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.600 he wants to be at the forefront of that change. 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.880 He's founded his own tech company, Fyi dot Ai. He 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.920 teaches a college class on AI, and he believes in 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.119 the capacity and the power of these tools to assist 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.360 human creativity. We met in can where he was on 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:17.760 a European tour with the PS and I was curious 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.080 where he would put the boundaries on AI, set the 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.399 parameters if you like, to a world which many other 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:29.240 creatives see as a threat to their rights, image, voice, 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:34.240 ultimately livelihoods. So here's what happened. When I sat down 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:39.400 with Will I am thank you for taking the time. 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:40.240 Oh, no, thank you. 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:41.560 I know you're in the middle of your tool. 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.160 You know it's like summer vacation, but it must. 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.240 Take quite a lot out of you know, the travel, the. 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:47.760 No, it's not working. 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:52.000 Well, that's great to know. Okay, is everyone happy? 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:52.760 All right? 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:56.679 Okay, so thank you for fitting us in. Thank You're 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.000 an incredibly busy man, and you have these parallel career, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.200 not just music, which everyone probably knows you best for, 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:07.760 but tech with your own company FYIAI and the course 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.640 you're leading at Arizona State University, which is also by AI. 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.640 So there's loads for us to talk about. Can I 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:15.640 tell you first the moment that stayed with me as 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:20.080 I was preparing for this conversation. It was watching the 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.839 video for one of your songs, I'm Abe and you're 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:27.960 showing the other piece a computer, but you're the way 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.000 you're talking about it stayed with me because you're saying, 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.440 this artificial intelligence, this is what's going to take the 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.440 PS into three thousand and eight. And it was hearing 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:39.800 you say artificial intelligence sixteen years ago when not many 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.080 people were thinking in those terms. 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.480 It's like in that video we described an LM. It's 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.360 like you take the entire English vocabulary, you take my 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:53.480 high notes, my law notes, and the noise, and with 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.120 this artificial intelligence, you type in your lyrics and this 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.920 thing produces, it sings it. So we pretty much predict. 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.400 Did you know what we now know as text to music? 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.880 Your udios, your SunOS of the world, your Larias of 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.920 the world, and thank you Professor Patrick Winston from MIT 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.960 Rest in Peace. Professor Patrick Winston used to let me 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.960 sit in his class from two thousand and six, seven 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.680 eight nine. Whenever a Black Eyed Peas would tour Boston, 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:21.840 I would go to sit in the MIT lab. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:23.960 Right, Okay, he let you in. But you were interested 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:26.640 enough to be there. And I'm wondering what made you 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:30.719 so aware of the future for you know and with 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.240 the next stage at all? At all of that time, 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:38.560 are you particularly tuned into technology and its potential and 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:39.520 its opportunity. 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.159 I like any type of tool, whether it's a synthesizer, 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:48.640 a keyboard, a traditional piano. I like a drum machine. 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.360 But then when I got my hands on my MacBook 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.240 and pro tools, that's when I was transfixed. That's when 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.480 I was like, Wow, what is this world? And that 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.120 ha is what made me interested in AI Like wow, 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:08.760 if I'm typing into the computer and outcomes like images 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.440 or sound, eventually I'm going to talk to the computer 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.480 and the computer's going to talk back, and it's going 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:19.039 to in that ping pong, that banter, that brainstorm, it's 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.800 going to make exactly what I have in my mind. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.880 It's kind of like magic abra cadabra. 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.280 And when you started making music back in your teens 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.720 with a boombox, and I think your mom, your mom 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:34.839 got for you. How did it feel then? Did it 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:36.679 feel magical in its own way? 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:39.520 Yeah? The idea of that I could record something from 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.760 a radio station and then put it in a separate 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.520 cassette and then loop the part that I liked and 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:47.640 then put that in the other cassette and then get 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:50.479 the headphones, put it in the mic, and then wrap 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.720 into that. Like that to me was like, wow, look 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.200 look look what I can do. Ma. She's like, boy, 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.200 who taught you got to do that? I'm like, I 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.000 don't know. I think it probably aw somebody do it. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.120 It's like we didn't have the Internet. Yes, I did 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:04.960 come for those Internet. 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:08.159 I was there too, so we managed. Did your mom 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.039 encourage you? What was her attitude to your music? 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.520 Oh? So my mom? My mom always sends me like, 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.400 I'll read the text message from my mom. She she 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:18.320 wrote me this, I gotta scroll up. I was like, 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:20.680 I love you, Mom. Thanks for designing me, Thanks for 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.919 investing in me, Thanks for developing me. Thanks for believing 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.800 in me and protecting me and loving me. You drip 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.520 me up and here I am. I am your will, 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.440 not because my name is Will, but also what she willed. 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.240 She's like, as I always said to you, when there's 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:40.760 a will, there's a way, and you are will. Will 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:44.880 keeps finding ways and answers. Just know I still believe 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.120 in you. You have many levels to go. Keep dreaming, 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.640 but never stop dreaming. So my mom is always like, 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.760 oh you think you finished, You ain't finished. So my 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:57.760 mom is like the coach on the side, like. 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.039 So she's always pushing you on beyond. 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:04.240 She's the one who taught me how to like are 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:08.120 you here or are you still over there? Come out 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:09.160 of that be here. 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.520 I guess some of that must come from the fact 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.240 that she had a tough time in her life herself, 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:19.200 right when she was raising you. Times we were not easy. 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:23.400 Yeah, when you're in a nightmare, you dream out the nightmare. 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.720 The way to get out of a nightmare is you 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:31.640 manually vividly change the dream, and then you have to 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:35.760 work your way backward how to materialize that awesome imagination 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:39.000 that took you out of your like worry, your conundrum 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.440 your angst and the way to get out of that 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.160 anks is sometimes it's okay to have a healthy day dream, 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.520 but then how do you take that dream reverse engineering 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:50.000 and make it reality. 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.040 And by seventeen you had a record deal. So your 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:58.119 dreams when you were a teenager. At seventeen, you had 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.280 a massive prize in your life, something that must have 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.240 been so unusual, like you know, your peers, your community, 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.320 so an incredible achievement. How did it feel. 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:09.760 So there's this guy by the name of Stephan Gordy. 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:14.120 Stephan Gordy's dad is Barry Gordy, and he and I 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:16.760 went to school together. So one day I come to 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:18.720 school like remember that tape when I used to make 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:19.360 my little tapes. 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:19.840 Yep. 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:21.680 I come to school. I'm like, Yo, give this to 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.440 your dad. I want to get a record deal. And 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:27.120 he was like, I can't give my dad your demo. 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:30.720 I was like, come on, it's Stefferen And so when 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.520 I finally got a record deal just two years later, 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:37.880 I eventually signed Steffanto my label Red Food from LMFAO 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.480 party Rockers in the house tonight anyway, So one day 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:45.640 we were sitting at the Grammys with Stephan, his dad, 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.040 Barry Gordy, and then myself and Barry Gordy's like, I 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.040 want to thank you so much for believing in my son. 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.160 I'm churrer label. I'm like, yo, Barry went, we went 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:57.959 in ninth grade. I try to give my demo to 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.440 Stephan to give to you, and I grew up with 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.360 his son and then signed his son to my label. 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:05.880 How did he react when you said that to him? 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.320 Oh? He told me yes, Steffen told me that, you know, 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:13.240 but we were at the grammy, so the conversation quickly changed. 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.800 But it just goes to show, like look into your dream, 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.319 go to the settings and figure out how that dream 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:26.680 actually is operating, and then reverse engineered it. You know, 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.160 how you could prompt gpt or anthropic and then outcomes 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.920 an image you could prompt it. Get the right prompt 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:36.760 life is the same way you could prompt your life. 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.080 And prompting your life is not words, it's people. The 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.520 way you put the words together to get the prompt 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:44.960 the results. It's the people you put in your life 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:45.960 to get the results. 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.800 Is this what you're pouring into the course you're teaching 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.440 at Arizona State Because I know you've said that the 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:57.600 course is called your Agentic, so the agentic self, and 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.760 so obviously there's a link to AI in that. But 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.160 I think you've said that through that course you've found 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:05.719 where the love is obviously a reference to one of 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:06.840 your most famous songs. 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.120 That was a stage in my life when it was 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.800 the scariest stage in my life. What do I mean 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:16.640 by that? I was scared as all hell preparing for 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.800 that stage of teaching but then also play on word stage. 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.200 That was the scariest stage in my life because I've 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:27.320 never done that before. Like, we would have rehearsals and 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:30.400 I would like, not come out. People would be like, 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.800 where's will I? And I would be like, oh, I'll 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:34.840 be there. I'll be there and I'll call my mom 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:37.800 And how many people out there waiting? I'm like, mine's 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:39.680 like seven people out there wait for me. And I'm like, 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.000 heart's beating fast. I don't like. I don't like when 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.560 my heart beats fast because then it triggers angst. She's like, 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.760 what are you so nervous about? I'm like, what's gonna 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.800 happen if there's a smarty pants somebody that's an expert? 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.520 It okay? What will happen if you're at a concert 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:00.160 and somebody is really good, Are you gonna give them? 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.839 I'm like, yeah, you're supposed to share the stage, right, 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:04.719 I'm like yeah, You're like, well, that's what you do 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.960 in class. And so from there I realized that I 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.000 should write my chorus like a song. I have my 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:15.040 opening monologue, what's wrong with the world, Mama, people living 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:16.760 like they ain't got no mama? As I put out 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:20.760 the problem, and then the chorus is when I open 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:25.120 up the class for questions on my monologue, and then 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.240 the second verse is the second hour, and then we 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.240 do the chorus again, and the third verse is the closing. 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.000 I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.480 as I get older, you old people. If there is 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.920 the song that I've I wrote and produced that should 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.839 reflect how I teach the chorus, it will be Where's 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:44.280 the Love? Because Where's of Love is about asking questions 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:47.960 and then searching for that to answers to that question, 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:51.880 because Where's Love is just a question song. When humanity 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.640 goes wrong, people go to that song. So I'm like, oh, shocks, 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.840 I've done. I've done some version of this. So whereas 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:04.280 the Love is how I teach the course, a gentic 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:09.320 self is telling people to ask who are you in 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:13.280 this new world that we're living, and how much of 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.559 you are you going to give to the machine? What 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.040 do you hold sacred? What do you want to do 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:23.280 with the machine? And in this case, the machine is yours. 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.440 Your data is yours. There's never been a container to 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:31.200 put your data in up until your own person or agent. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.200 You have a house, right, you don't share it with 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.480 your neighbors. You wouldn't buy a house that didn't have 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.800 its own restroom, So why are you sharing your AI 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:39.680 with everybody else? 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:41.960 But you have one of those platforms yourself? 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:42.199 Right? 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:42.960 FYI? 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:44.800 Your data is yours? 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.880 Okay, So the protection of data is important. 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.240 Yeah, we can't go into your account and be like, hey, 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.000 can you go? We can't do that. Your data is 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:57.480 your data. Your agent is your agent, and we believe 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.760 that's like I have my immune system, I got my 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:04.600 digestive system. These are things that are ours. Shouldn't your 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.240 AI system be just as much yours as as your 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:08.000 other systems are? 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.160 But then what about AI and music? Because you're an 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:15.920 investor in AI companies, including even one of the ones 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.960 that's been in its own like legal battles with some 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.400 of the record labels, And so I wonder where you 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.559 draw the line in that, like, do you worry about 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:29.360 the volume of music nowadays which is totally AI generated? 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:34.360 No, not everything. I come from hip hop. And if 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:41.280 you heard a song like pump It, I sample that 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:45.000 from dig Dale, Misery lou And and I wrote my 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.640 song on top of that. I reinforced the drums. So 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.959 for me to have like a hyper criticism on AI 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.160 that samples everything, when I sampled a lot of things 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:58.040 to make my songs, that would be hypocritical. AI is 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:03.240 just like the world's biggest sampler. It sampled everything, whether 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:07.440 it's books, language. I think it's not the technology that 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.360 you should be like, what's going on there, it's a 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:11.040 business model. 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:29.640 When people, including colleagues of yours in the industry, other 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:34.000 high profile figures, say AI is an assault on human creativity, 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:35.200 you don't agree. 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.800 No, not at all, because your boxing creativity to how 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:44.400 an industry told you you should create. Before the record industry, 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.640 what was a song? What was everybody singing in twelve 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:52.840 twenty six, thirteen twenty six, what was the village freaking melody? 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:54.480 There would have been something. 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:55.520 No, No, no, but what was it? 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:56.720 No idea? 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:01.440 Okay, in fifteen twenty six, after the printing press, the 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.720 first industry, which is publishing. Fourteen forty nine came the 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:07.320 printing press, and from there we got our heroes like 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:12.880 Bach and Beethoven. They were the superstars of that industry. 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:18.400 And from fifteen twenty six, sixteen twenty six, seventeen twenty six, eighteen, 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:22.640 four hundred freaking years of the printing press, no record industry. 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:26.080 And the way that music was spread out was printing 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.880 music so that conductors could conduct, and violins are sold, 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:35.200 violas were sold, basilicas were built, no amplifiers, just amphitheaters. 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:37.640 And then the record industry came. You know what people 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:39.440 said about the recordustry, What do you mean you're gonna 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.520 bring the song into the house, No orchestra. We've been 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:45.000 here before. But what came because of the record player? 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.200 The record industry. And you're assuming that AI is supposed 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:51.280 to mimic the recording, No, it's not. It's supposed to 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:55.280 create a new industry. New types of experiences are supposed 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:59.120 to come, not just recordings recordings for the record industry. 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.080 You're supposed to use AI to dream up the new 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.720 experience is just right. Now, what's the first thing they 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:07.360 can think of? Well, let's do do recordings. This is 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.120 where creators is supposed to be, Like oh oh oh, 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:10.440 this is the new playing field. 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:12.480 Do you mean like it's almost like a call to 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.280 action for better creativity or. 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.520 Okay, I don't give a how awesome AI is. It 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:23.080 cannot outpace my creativity. It's not imagining. It's a regurgitation 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.040 of imaginations. So people are afraid, like, oh my god, it's 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.200 it's gonna it's gonna what it's gonna what it's gonna mimic, 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.560 it's gonna reproduce what's already been produced. I believe that 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.440 critical thinking and like renting out your imagination and being 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:43.400 purposeful is our AI proof. You know, pathways to be 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:47.720 of service. Music will always be And even in AI 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:51.200 with this onslaught of like how much songs do AI 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.160 produce every single year, every single week, every single month, 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.160 every single quarter, every single year. There's more AI music 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:01.480 than human made music. There's more on the Internet. The 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:03.720 Internet way it used to be is not the way 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.359 it is now. There's just as many, if not more 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:13.560 bots online than there are people. So this means live events, 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:18.680 Broadway theater, real performance. When I say real, I'm talking 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:24.119 about human sweat, human rents out. It's gonna be the 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:28.920 most sought after, valuable form of entertainment. At least that's 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.760 what I hope, because damn, the machine is freaking amazing, 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:37.000 but humans are even more amazing. It's no longer gonna 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:41.240 be about good. It's gonna be about values. It's gonna 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:46.720 be like what is what's precious? AI is great, it's fast, 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:53.000 but human like sweat. We gotta value that just as much. 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.080 You don't ever worry about like the amount of the 0:17:56.119 --> 0:18:00.000 amount of material being scrape or your voice or your life, 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:04.000 likeness being AI generated versions of yours. You can accept that. 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.920 No, no, no, you're asking the wrong question the question 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.320 you should ask. Are you worried that you don't own 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:14.000 your voice? Do you worry that there's no likeness in 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:18.800 essence industry? You know I have a credit card? I 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.080 have a credit card. One hundred years ago, this didn't exist. 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:25.639 Fifty years ago, American Express didn't exist the way it 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.640 exists right now. There wasn't digits and this freaking little 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:33.480 chip that didn't exist. So what is the equivalent of 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:38.639 that form an essence and likeness. So everybody, not just musicians, 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:43.879 every single person needs to own their data, their essence, 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.879 their likeness. There needs to be industries. You got to 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:50.360 use your imagination and push to have industries to protect 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:54.520 people in this new realm that we're in. Here's another 0:18:54.560 --> 0:19:00.000 thing too, one thing you said about AI music. Humans 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:06.119 need their own file. Right now, AI music and AI 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:12.320 video shares the same MP three MP four file as humans. 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:17.359 That ain't right. It takes AI seconds to make something 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:21.320 and it's valued the same. Why is that? Why should that? 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.679 Why should an MP three that an AI made be 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:29.080 valued the same fraction of a penny than somebody's song 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.120 that took them weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:36.080 and months. But how can you validate human sweat to 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:40.040 make something? That means? We need a lived experience file, 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:45.320 Like drummers are gonna drum with the freaking watch and 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:50.080 they're gonna have biometrics that is connected to that file. 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:54.840 That biometrics is connected and connected to the location and 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:59.960 time and perspiration, and so when that file is up 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.879 on a DSP, it should be worth more than an 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:06.280 MP three file. Who's to say that an AI song 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:09.960 is worth the same as a human song. In order 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:13.199 to do that, human files need to be sacred to 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:17.560 human creations. And let Ai keep MP three's and waves 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:18.840 and ai ff. 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:23.119 So that's an argument for better labeling. It's like clear, 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:23.679 so the. 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:27.919 Market, let Ai b ai. But what if I just 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:30.159 want to go on a studio with humans and create. 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.320 Is it going to be the same file? And why 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.080 should it? Why should it be the same file, and 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.240 why should it be worth the same? It should be 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:43.600 worth more. Give more incentives for people to create human 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.959 made stuff and let Ai be ai. That's great. You 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.479 need something that differentiates it from the other stuff, and 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:53.000 that file I call it the POL, the proof of 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:58.200 life file. So this song dot pol right now on 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:01.440 on a on DSPs, it's Where's a Love dot wave? 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:04.480 Or Where's the Love dot MP three or MP four 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:09.119 on YouTube? We need a Where's a love dot pol 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:13.639 because that has human biometrics connected to it and a 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:16.920 location and a timestamp on a Ledger, and it should 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:21.439 be worth more than just compute output. 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:24.480 I remember when Where's the Love came out? It was 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:26.920 a couple of months after the Iraq War. 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:32.320 We wrote it after nine to eleven and then yeah, 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:34.399 the song came out a couple of months after the 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:35.240 Iraq War you're. 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:39.560 At and today, like, how how do you feel about 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:43.479 this moment when there's another wall that the US has 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:45.600 been involved in in the Middle East? Have you been 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:48.680 thinking about the song again in that context or when 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:51.280 it's part of your tour and your performances today? Do 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:54.040 you think people are putting that lens on it in 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:55.280 twenty twenty six? 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:59.040 You could use that for any time there's human error. 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:09.960 It's a prescription for like reflection. Every time there's human error, 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:12.920 we could sing where's the Love to ourselves to make 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:14.480 sure we're on the right path. 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:16.720 And what do you think of when you perform it now? 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.280 Do you think of then or the present moment? 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:22.800 No? No, no, we think of the present. We reflect on 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.480 the things that are happening in the world. It's what 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:29.040 keeps us grounded in the work that we do in 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.840 the community. My foundation is rooted in the words that 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:36.240 we believe in and Where's Love? I am Angel foundation 0:22:36.880 --> 0:22:39.919 is rooted in that so that folks and communities that 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:42.640 have been neglected have pathways to success. 0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:47.240 Well, finally, what gives you the most joy today? Is 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:51.520 it making music or is it the teaching and the 0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:55.119 being part of like imparting everything you're passionate about to 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:56.440 a younger generation. 0:22:57.040 --> 0:23:01.480 The thing that gives me the most joy is moments 0:23:01.520 --> 0:23:05.360