Bilawal Sidhu — How to Unite Reality With Imagination (EP.229)

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