will.i.am on why AI Could Be the Key to the Creative Revolution
“The ones that think that AI is a hindrance are truly not creative. Those that are creative see manifestation tools. It's like yo, bring it - what the fuck, seriously? I could do even more?”
During Cannes Lions 2024, will.i.am is, like many on the Croisette, pondering the relationship between AI and creativity. will.i.am is the founder of FYI, which claims to be the "first AI productivity tool built for creatives by creatives". Inspired by what the company sees as a 'broken' digital creative process in which workflows are scattered across hundreds of applications, poor collaboration tools for content-focused companies, and siloed AI platforms, FYI's mission is to revolutionise the way creatives create, collaborate and monetise their content.
“True ideators that move at the speed of their team are now going to move faster because their team is now being supercharged,” says will.i.am. “The creatives with these tools, I challenge them not to use AI to augment the way things were done yesterday, but use AI to dream up new shit.”
Despite limitless freedom for creativity in 2024, will.i.am says that right now is one of the worst periods in history to be a creative. That has nothing to do with opportunities or fame for your work - it’s rooted much deeper in the ability to have a voice and, importantly, monetise your expertise. Social media and digital streaming platforms offer wide scale opportunities to have, in the case of music, your artistry heard, but these platforms and the technology that they live and breathe from, come with a number of problems.
“Let's take a snapshot of music right now,” he says. “Are people truly being creative right now? TikTok's awesome. But is it really truly the creative heaven? No. It's algorithmically based. When you have algorithms suggesting how to get more eyes, then it's truly not artistic integrity. You get a billion streams on DSPs. Did you make any money? No, you didn't. Even with a billion streams!
He reflects on whether the creative industry right now is as creative or lucrative as it has been or could be. “No, it's not,” he concludes.” So what the fuck are we talking about? We're supposed to keep basic, basic? We're supposed to keep rundown and diluted, diluted? Is there anybody trying to dimensionalise the economy of music or the economy of entertainment? Is there anybody trying to take it to where folks can truly express themselves and truly be creative with these tools? That is the urgency.
Not only is there a sense that creativity itself is somewhat diluted, will.i.am also perceives that a lot of the output has become kind of toothless - or perhaps the more galvanising stuff isn’t reaching us. He draws a potent comparison with the music of the 1960s. “In the '60s, music was revolutionary. With the injust shit that we have right now, are there fucking revolutionary songs? What's causing that? The algorithm got you pimped out to where if you write something about what's going on, you're probably going to get cancelled.”
Indeed, between a restrictive cultural atmosphere and inequitable business models, it’s tough out there for creatives. “As a creative, I would say right now is the shittiest time for any creative. It's cool. You got audience, you have reach. But are you getting Lionel Richie rich? No. Are you ‘walking on the ceiling’? No. Is it Thriller? No. But is it Thriller? Yes. Because it's some spooky shit happening out there. People can't express themselves on it out of fear of getting not heard, so you have a lot of redundancies, a lot of cliches, soundalikes in the name of streams and views.”
Like many creative people, will.i.am is concerned about the unresolved ethical questions around AI, such as ownership of one’s likeness, data and creative materials. But he also believes that the creative industries can’t wait for larger companies to change their business models to quell such worries and thinks that the tools are available for more proactivity. “We have all the technology for folks to start companies that are morally sound to give ownership and liberty to creatives for their essence and their likeness,” he says. “And that's what we aim to do at FYI. To wait for a company to be moral when their business model is immoral - that's insane. To think that - I don't want to name names - is going to change their business model to where you have 100% of your reach and you own your data. Get fuck out of here.
“But do people have the tools to create their own companies to counter, to have an alternative solution for artists and creatives? Right now, yes. That's why I try to challenge creatives. We don't have to wait for mommy and daddy when mommy and daddy are compromised. Right now, it's the French Revolution,” he says, and that’s exactly what he’s aiming to do with FYI. “People should own their essence and their likeness, so at FYI, you own your data.”
FYI.AI, a key element of the FYI platform, allows creatives to 'turbocharge' their workflows using AI-powered creatives assistants that are specialised in certain tasks, such as drafting stories, song lyrics, product descriptions or marketing copy. A dashboard allows you to chat with FYI.AI about any topic, while a range of tools can generate images, summarise documents, transcribe calls, take notes, summarise group discussions, create tasks for follow-up and recall what was discussed in previous calls with different teams.
will.i.am points to the creation of RAiDiO FYI - which launches this summer - as a prime example of using artificial intelligence for the creation of something new versus the streamlined production of something well known. will.i.am is limited in what he can discuss about the project yet, but he sees it as a new form of pirate radio. In fact, the name even speaks to this - the inclusion of ‘AI’ into the word ‘radio’, also leads it to spell ‘raid’. “Pirates are raiders, so it's a play on new pirate radio, by allowing everyone to spawn stations,” says the Black Eyed Peas founder.
“Right now radio is a one-and-a-half way street, meaning sometimes some people could call in and have a conversation with the host. This [the launch of FYI RAiDiO] is to dimensionalise, where our radio hosts can have millions of conversations on the broadcast as the news unfolds or queries about songs, lyrics, who produced [a song], when was it released, where the artists from. To have that type of dimension in a broadcast is transformation.
“As a creative, I envisioned a new type of radio utilising AI. I didn't utilise AI to create the same experience. So, I, as a creator, can create other types of things with AI for deeper engagements and to dimensionalise experiences. That's the power that it holds for creatives.”
While some fear that the growth of AI will cause jobs to become obsolete, the rise of any new industry, technology or form of creativity also brings new roles that need to be filled and skills that need to be learned. In this vein, will.i.am, via partnerships with American businessman and philanthropist Robert Smith and LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District), also has a particular focus on the skilling of up underrepresented, inner city students to ensure that they are ready for - and aware of - jobs in the field of AI in the future.
“Somebody has to supercharge, inspire and mentor a whole new flock of industry spawners,” says will.i.am. “We know that there's a lot of jobs that are going to be compromised, like white collar and blue collar jobs. There's also going to be a lot of jobs that we can't fathom and imagine where they're going to come from. If we want them to come from inner cities, we need to start mentoring these kids and preparing them now. Encouraging them, collaborating with them.
“So, our partnership with Robert Smith is super important and the work that I do LAUSD with my robotics programme, i.am.angel, is super important for diversifying, including and mentoring and inspiring folks to solve yesterday's problems with today's tools that will bring about tomorrow's industries.”
