Key Takeaways:
Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am is trading the stage for the lecture hall, teaching a 16-week course on artificial intelligence at Arizona State University.
The convergence of celebrity and technology reached a new milestone as musician and tech investor will.i.am concluded a 16-week artificial intelligence course at Arizona State University, signaling a broader trend of AI education moving beyond traditional computer science departments. The course, titled “The Agentic Self,” taught approximately 80 students how to create their own personalized AI assistants.
"He sees things in a very clear way and the future more clearly than a lot of people in the technology world," Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who has hosted will.i.am at his estate, said. "He’s able to bring culture and technology together in clever and smart ways."
The course, which began in January, featured a high-profile lineup of guest speakers, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and executives from AI leaders OpenAI and Nvidia. This reflects will.i.am's deep connections in the tech industry, where he has been an active investor for nearly two decades. His portfolio includes early stakes in both OpenAI and Tesla, the latter of which he invested $80,000 in around 2006 after selling a Hummer.
This venture into academia is more than a celebrity vanity project; it represents a tangible move to democratize AI knowledge. As large language models and generative tools from companies like Google become more accessible, will.i.am's initiative suggests a future where AI literacy is a mainstream skill, potentially influencing everything from personal productivity to the creation of new businesses.
will.i.am, 51, whose given name is William Adams, has long operated at the intersection of music and technology. He previously served as Intel’s director of creative innovation and was an early investor in Beats Electronics, the headphone company acquired by Apple for $3 billion. His interest in tech is not just financial; he actively builds his own product concepts, from a high-tech face mask to the "Trinity," an AI-equipped, three-wheeled electric vehicle.
The curriculum for "The Agentic Self" was inspired by the structure of his band's 2003 hit song "Where Is The Love?"—identifying a problem, exploring solutions, and ending with reflection. Adams used tools like Google's Veo 3 video generator in class to demonstrate the rapid advancements in creative AI.
His hands-on approach and vision for personalized AI resonated with students. "He got me drinking the Kool-Aid so early that there are no boundaries to what you can build if you have the right idea," said Dave Cavalier, 39, a professional who took the class.
The move into education is part of will.i.am's belief that individuals should have more control over their digital lives, a power currently concentrated in the hands of large tech companies. By teaching students to build their own AI agents, he aims to equip them with the tools to navigate and shape the next technological wave, likening AI personalization to the rudder on a sailboat.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
