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 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.

Important Links:

Bilawal’s Website (includes links to all social channels)
What Does “Rat Park” Teach Us About Addiction? (Psychiatric Times)

Show Notes:

Aliens at the Miami Mall & the deep fake arms race
How to unite reality with imagination
The three waves of content democratization & the incoming content tsunami
Artisan vs organic content
Creation by proxy
Climbing up the adoption curve
Bilawal’s idea-to-execution creation process
Remix culture & co-creation
Competing visions of an AI-infused feature
Finding an economic model that benefits indie creators
Sovereign AI & being long human creativity
Bilawal as Emperor of the World
MORE!

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

What Makes a Great Book Cover?