As a proud owner of the exceedingly rare “two-digit” designation on CompuServe (the internet’s precursor), I’ve always been an early adopter of new tech.
I was, therefore, particularly excited to speak to Bilawal Sidhu, a one-man corporation whose prolific output outpaces many creators put together.
Since he was 11, Bilawal has been passionate about using cutting-edge tech to create videos that unite reality with his imagination.
He made his bones as a product manager at Google, but after his short-form videos generated millions of views on social media, he decided to go all-in on his creative projects, including this video - https://x.com/bilawalsidhu/status/1743855364620099854 showing ‘shadow aliens’ invading Miami Mall, which racked up 11M views in 24 hours (!) on TikTok.
Bilawal is also an adept rune-reader in the tech industry — his Creative Digest newsletter and YouTube channel offer insights and analysis on tech and market developments, while his TEDAI podcast broke the recent Helen Toner x OpenAI story.
If you’re a creator curious about the opportunities presented by cutting-edge tech, you’re gonna love this episode.
For the full transcript and bucketloads of other stuff designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!” check out our Substack - https://newsletter.osv.llc/.
Important Links:
- Bilawal’s Website - https://bilawal.in (includes links to all social channels)
- What Does “Rat Park” Teach Us About Addiction? - https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-teach-us-about-addiction (Psychiatric Times)
Show Notes:
0:00:00 Intro
0:00:49 Aliens at the Miami Mall & the Deep Fake Arms Race
0:11:46 How to Unite Reality With Imagination
0:17:04 The Three Waves of Content Democratization & the Incoming Content Tsunami
0:30:05 Artisan vs Organic Content
0:32:45 Climbing up the adoption curve
0:52:22 Bilawal’s idea to execution creation process
0:56:34 Remix culture & co-creation
1:02:43 Competing visions of an AI-infused future
1:14:46 Finding an economic model that benefits indie creators
1:28:51 Sovereign AI & being long human creativity
1:35:13 Bilawal as Emperor of the World
Books Mentioned:
- The Fifth Science; by Exurb1a
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams
- The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates; by Howard Bloom
- The Ultimate Resource; by Julian L. Simon
