Will.i.am believes the 2026 Grammys ceremony will go down as “probably one of the last years where it’s only humans on the red carpet.”
The seven-time Grammy winner shared his swiftly questioned take during an Associated Press interview amid Sunday’s festivities, which wrapped with Bad Bunny taking home Album of the Year. Other winners this year—as we reported in real time here—included Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Turnstile, and more.
“The reason why I'm here at the red carpet at the Grammys 2026 is because I predict that this is probably one of the last years where it's only humans on the red carpet,” the Black Eyed Peas member said. “Just like if you were to go out and absorb what the world was like in 2022. 2022 is one of the last years where it was only humans driving cars on the streets. Now there's Waymos on the streets.”
As will.i.am sees it, this variety of what he considers “level-five autonomy” will soon be extended to the Recording Academy’s annual celebration of the best in music.
“There will be level-five artistry, and that level-five artistry will be agents and robots,” he argued. “That agent and robot will be here on the red carpet before 2030, and AP will be like, ‘Hey, whatever the name of that bot is,’ and it then will be telling you the things that it's done and what it's working on.”
Will.i.am, who made similar remarks in a separate interview on Sunday, is set to lead an AI-focused course through Arizona State University later this year. During a recent panel discussion on the topic, per Billboard, he offered his thoughts on how best to be “AI-proof” moving forward.
As for where the Grammys stand, specifically, when it comes to AI, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. affirmed back in 2024 that “only human creators” are eligible to be submitted for nominations considerations and potential wins.
"The Recording Academy is in the business of celebrating human excellence and human creativity," he said during testimony as part of a House Judiciary Committee hearing on AI that year.
