Will.i.am on AI, Data Ownership & The Future of Nations | Shekhar Natarajan Podcast

**Shekhar Natarajan** (0:00)
Will is not only all of the things you mention, he's like the kindest person you can find. This man is not only a genius, but is the kindest man I know.

**will.i.am** (0:15)
I think we'll be better humans to humans. We're not gonna need some like artificial thing telling us how to be human. We're gonna come to that conclusion in reality ourselves.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (0:31)
Intellectuals philosophize, fantasize technology and what it is going to do to us. But the common man somehow is like not so conversant with it. So through the show, we are trying to bring literacy into the world.

**will.i.am** (0:51)
When we made stuff, we still had to control that stuff. We still had to operate that stuff. But, I mean, 2029, no one's remote controlling that.

**Daniel** (1:23)
And our special guest is going to share some of his incredible energy and advice. My dear friend Shekhar is going to interview him from the Tomorrow, Today podcast. And it's an honor to have you, Shekhar, with us. And thank you for all your support for Abraham House. So this is a very special moment for us. For many years, I've wanted to have him on this stage, and this is going to happen today. So can we have a big scream, as loud as you can, to welcome the wonderful Will.i.am.

**will.i.am** (1:57)
Hey, everybody. Hey, guys.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (2:00)
Well, I think one of the things that Daniel did not mention is that Will is not only all of the things you mentioned, he's like the kindest person you can find. So I actually had my team after the CES go visit the project he lived and talk to a lot of people in the neighborhood.

**will.i.am** (2:22)
You went to my neighborhood?
Yeah. Thank you so much.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (2:25)
So I think actually Sally can show you the video. So we actually shot where he lived and where he played, and all of the stuff that he did, and people talk really highly of this guy. So this man is not only a genius, but is the kindest man I know.

**will.i.am** (2:41)
Thank you so much.
I'm a product of my neighborhood. So the people in my neighborhood are special to me, but they're really nice. I grew up in an all-Mexican neighborhood, and it was, it's a village. It still is a village. I go there every Sunday when I'm in town, and it's like, Ay, Willy, mijo, ven aquí, dame un beso, ay, Willy. Like, my neighborhood is so, I love it. I'll start crying just thinking about, like, the people that I grew up with that are still there.
For example, as a kid from TikTok, I don't really check my DMs, but I was sleepless in bed and I was scrolling. Let me read it to you, Hector Jr. Hey, Will, I'm Hector from Hollenbach Middle School and my grandfather named Leo. He would tell us he would call you Hollywood. And I'm reaching out to you because I knew you went to Hollenbach Middle School and you love music, and you like helping your community. I'm hearing that my teacher at Hollenbach might lose his job for minimum funds. And I feel sad. Today, they had a meeting council at the library and they're talking about budgets. And I'm reaching out to you to see if you could help my school in any way. And so I replied to Jr. I love to help. You know, your grandfather helped my family out a lot when we were really poor. Leo would give us free ham and we didn't have money. I love your grandfather. He was always nice to me and showed me so much love when I lived in the projects. He took care of us with his kind heart, with his big ranchero smile. And he would say, hey, Hollywood. Hey, Hollywood, where are you going? And I would say, I'm going to Hollywood to make my dreams come true. Your grandfather encouraged me with my dream. And he would see me practicing in front of my house. And he would call me Hollywood. He would also see me come home from the studios late coming from Hollywood. Your grandfather was an angel to me and my family. And I would love to help you solve your hauling back budget situation. Anyways, I love my community. Like, I love it. Love it. Love it.

**Shekhar Natarajan** (4:58)
They love you, too. Yeah, they love you, too. So actually, like, this is my second episode with Will. The first one we shot was in CES. And that's going to get aired in Arizona State University, the master's program you're going to be teaching. Sally already has that. So we have shots of where you lived, like, you know, all of that stuff. And let's get into the show a bit, Will. So the way we've organized the show, you know, this is rated number three podcast on iTunes and basically also Spotify. We have three segments that we have in the show. The first is really like an imaginary world in the future, right? And it's like a, you know, shock and awe, you know, black mirror type video that we play. The second part of the show is basically deep diving into the thing that we are talking about, like, you know, what we showed just now, you know, what is the implication of the technology and how does the society get changed or morphed or what needs to happen to make it come to life. And the third is to actually go to the street and talk to the common man.