In the future envisioned by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, an AI version of himself could be programmed to personally guide listeners through his catalog of hits like “Shake Ya Boom Boom” and “My Humps.”
The musician-turned-technologist — whose real name is William Adams — has spent the past decade partnering with and investing in tech firms, namely OpenAI and Anthropic.
He’s also launched his own startups, including a company that aims to create the future of radio by integrating AI-powered cohosts. Essentially, the idea of “RAiDiO.FYI” is that users can ask questions about a song or the news during a program and an AI will answer them.
“Radio hasn’t had any innovation since satellite, as far as the experience,” he said in an interview at the Dreamforce conference. “But now radio can be personal.”
Instead of radio stations giving away concert tickets and T-shirts, artists can start and manage their own stations — fronted by digital clones of themselves — to engage with fans.
“In the past, I used to make albums,” he said. “But now your songs are going to be picked apart and put on a playlist. With our architecture, groups are going to start creating stations as opposed to albums. And on stations you’re going to have a storefront, and your agent or persona is going to be your point of sale, your concierge to your entire discography.”
The musician will take the stage multiple times on Wednesday to chat with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and discuss his thoughts on the future of “intelligent media.” Wrangling celebrity speakers has long been a hallmark of Dreamforce: In addition to will.i.am, speakers at this year’s conference include Kate Hudson, Dev Patel, Edward Norton, and John Mulaney.
Imagine Dragons and Pink are scheduled to perform at Wednesday night’s Dreamfest concert. Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers played a show during lunch on Tuesday. In the past, onlookers have criticized the reported costs of the company’s star-studded relationships.
Inside Dreamforce’s summer camp fever dream campus, which includes SF-themed mini golf, giant backdrops aka selfie spots, sequined plushies, and the Lumineers guy playing for us pic.twitter.com/ZewAMzldnz
— Jillian D'Onfro (@jillianiles) September 17, 2024
Will.i.am is a regular at Dreamforce, Davos, and other business-centric events. He credits Silicon Valley’s influence for helping shape his latest tech product.
“I’m trying my hardest to borrow from Northern California’s innovative mind for transforming a medium that changed my life, which is radio,” he said.
He also described his hometown of Los Angeles and the conference host city as cousins, and professed that he’s a fan of the Warriors and San Francisco in general: “I rock with SF pretty hard.”
L.A.’s entertainment roots and the Bay Area’s technology combine to create modern culture, he added, noting, “L.A. and San Francisco kind of rep America. Take us out of this equation, like America’s not what it is without us.”