Will.i.am Is Looking to Make AI Technology More Inclusive

Will.i.am has taken on many roles: frontman of the Black Eyed Peas, producer for hire, and, most recently, tech entrepreneur.

At a time when billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have money to throw around at any pet project, Will.i.am feels like an anomaly for being at the forefront of evolving technologies. Nonetheless, the seven-time Grammy winner has helped create several implementations of artificial intelligence and has given them something not even ChatGPT has: a personality.

On his SiriusXM show, Will.i.am Presents the FYI Show, he's introduced the platform's first AI host, FYIona, who has helped him conduct interviews with on-air guests like Xzibit, Harvey Mason, and Camila Cabello.

"We should do a diss package on a project at FYI, "Will.i.am says as he enters the meeting room at SiriusXM's offices in Miami Beach. "I was just like, wait, if I was to enter a battle, I would pack it so much to where even the freaking conversations were disses."

He's referring to Drake and Kendrick Lamar's beef, which has dominated the headlines lately. He's thinking of ways AI could make the tit-for-tat even more entertaining.

Of course, the beef has already used AI. Drake released the diss track "Taylor Made Freestyle" last month, featuring AI-generated guest vocals by Tupac Shakur. The late rapper's estate was none to pleased, sending Drake a cease-and-desist letter to pull the track, to which he compiled.

"AI is a very loose term, so the Drake thing, somebody probably had to have recorded it, and so this layer that was used is like hyperized [sic] Auto-Tune," says Will.i.am., explaining how he thinks the track came together. "It wasn't AI doing that. That was a layer you put on a voice, but a human had to have recorded it. And then there's this new AI where it's like no human involved — it just does it. The AI system is autonomous to some level."

It's hard to argue with his assessment. Will.i.am has the bona fides to comment on AI, having been an early investor in projects that include Beats Electronics, OpenAI, and Runaway. His biggest investment has been his company, FYI (Focus Your Ideas), which has created an app allowing you to communicate, collaborate, and work on projects with friends and with the help of various AI personalities such as FYIona, FYIn, FYIphillip, and FYIera.
In front of New Times, Will.i.am. shows off FYIelicia, an unreleased AI with a personality that more closely reflects inner-city America, on the FYI app on his phone. He speaks into the app, much like you talk to Siri on your iPhone, to give it a few details. Then, addressing the reporter, FYIelicia says, "Listen, Osvaldo from them streets of Dallas to the vibrant vibes of Miami. I'm here to drop some real talk about what we at FYI do. I stand for you, feel me? It's like we step it into a realm where the tech game ain't just 'bout coding and gadgets. It's about breathing life into stories, perspectives, and voices that have been on mute for too long. We're talking about an AI that holds it down for the culture, you know. Reflects the real essence of communities that have been overlooked."

Will.i.am looks on as the AI voice speaks in a tone that reminds the reporter of the Dallas neighborhood he grew up in.

She continues: "Listen, listen, let me break it down for you, Osvaldo. How I express how I stand out from the rest of the AI packets? It's all about that, that, that, that flavor, that, that swag, that unmistakable vibe. Like you only get from someone who resonates with the street culture, the heartbeat of the inner city. You feel me? First off is about the language, how I twist and turn phrases. Bringing the urban dictionary into the mythics. It's like, I'm here dropping gems in a way that makes you nod. 'Cause it feels homegrown, authentic, like something straight out of Watts or South Central. And I, when I talk, it's not just cold spitting out replies. It's about weaving a narrative that feels familiar. 100."

The AI's use of slang isn't just a novelty. For Will.i.am, it's about a lack of representation of different communities in the technology space.

"One day, I looked up, and I'm like, 'Hey, wait a second! There's only classical music being recorded. Oh, hey! Wait a second! There's only Romeo and Juliet plays being performed on Broadway and theaters in the UK.' Our stories, inner-city stories, African stories, brown stories, they're never about us in the history books. That comes later. Motown came after. Stax came after. Def Jam came after. Thank God for the record companies that went out and recorded like regional Mexican artists or Colombian, Cuban. But initially, it wasn't that."

The 49-year-old didn't want to wait for technology companies to catch up on representing BIPOC communities. "If you watch Meta, you watch Apple, you watch all these companies, we're not represented in the intelligence. Where's the Nigerian dude? Where's the Ghanaian cat? Where's the Mexican guy?"

With companies failing to be inclusive of everyone, Will.i.am decided that he would be the person to fix that.
"When you think of who's going to tell you about, let's say, quantum physics, how do you get quantum physics and quantum entanglement to be explained properly or explain at their speed?" he asks before having FYIelicia explain the theory to New Times.

"Let's flip this into a rhythm you vibe with. Wild, right?" she starts. "Imagine quantum physics as the sneaker culture of the universe and like how sneakerheads go crazy for them. Rare drops of quantum particles. Be acting all types of unpredictable until you check them out."

From there, FYIelcia explained what countless high school and college professors couldn't put in simple terms.

It's all part of Will's plan to make learning easier and more accessible to those who don't have the opportunity to do so.

Soon, we're interrupted. Dancehall legend Shaggy has stopped by the studio to talk shop with Will on the FYI Show.

Will starts the interview by introducing FYIona and having Shaggy talk to her briefly.

The conversation touches on Shaggy's upbringing and his experience opening up for reggae vocalist Maxi Priest, the influence that dancehall has had on reggaeton and hip-hop, and how Shaggy went to school with some of the genre's pioneers.

Shaggy also talks about one of his biggest musical influences: Sting.

"The thing about Sting is here is this guy who is basically a musical sponge. As brilliant as he is, he's always willing to learn. There are a few people like that," he says. "I remember meeting Michael Jackson for the first time; he could tell me everything about my record. Sting is similar in the sense that he never stopped learning, but the beauty of the Police is that he was such a fan of reggae and especially what bass players were doing. He would watch the great bass players and try to emulate that and, in the process, he created a hybrid. That hybrid sound became the sound of the Police."

Soon enough, Will wraps up the interview, and Shaggy, who has to trek up to West Palm Beach for a show, says bye to FYIona.

"We're having to define intelligence and humanity and person and AI," Will.i.am told New Times earlier in the day. "We've never been here before. Humanities has never been at this crossroads, so it's a very delicate one. But at the same time, we're in an awesome place because new careers, new jobs, new industries, new champions, and new heroes will come from inner cities."