In this episode, the crew - Niquita J (TT | @Niquitinha_), Kevin Rodrigues (TT | @shaikhkev), Yuvir “Sketchy Bongo” Pillay (TT | @sketchybongo_official) - stop arguing about AI music for a second and tackle the more uncomfortable question:

Is AI really the threat… or is it the people and systems that refuse to adapt?

From “AI for dummies” to “AI will cause mass unemployment”, they pull apart the lazy narratives and get real about what actually changes when you do or don’t use these tools in your life and work.

They get into:

- Why there’s already a huge performance gap between people using AI at work and people who refuse to touch it

- The wild reality that companies are literally buying non-AI businesses, adding AI, and out-competing everyone else

- AI as that overconfident intern: fast, helpful, and sometimes spectacularly, dangerously wrong

- How non-technical and older people can actually start using AI without a course, a bootcamp or a midlife crisis

- Whether AI is really “democratized” if the best features sit behind paywalls and opaque products

- Why the real risk isn’t “AI taking jobs” but how capitalism, regulation and wealth distribution respond to the tech - UBI, mass unemployment and whether governments will ever move as fast as the models

- Deepfakes, fake rocket attacks on real cities, and where the line should be between free speech and outright destabilisation

- The uncomfortable truth that your job title is not your identity – and why that matters when AI starts automating tasks

- Practical ways Kevin already uses AI for taxes, forms, creative work and research (and where he refuses to trust it)

- The most underrated take of the episode: AI is not the point. The problem you’re solving is.

- If you’re anxious about AI, bored of the hype, or quietly wondering if “I’ll learn it later” is going to cost you your career, this episode is your intervention.

All views are personal.

🎧 Watch & listen to Thinking Out Cloud here → solo.to/thinkingoutcloud

💬 Drop your take in the comments: are you using AI like a power tool, or still treating it like a threat you hope will blow over?

Hosts: Niquita J (TT|@Niquitinha_), Kevin Rodrigues (TT|@shaikhkev), Yuvir Pillay (TT| @sketchybongo_official) Show: Thinking Out Cloud – a conversation about how tech (especially AI) is messing with culture, music and the hustle. All views are personal.

In this first episode, the crew sit down in Dubai and ask the question a lot of artists are low-key panicking about: Is AI killing music, or just changing who gets to make it?

They get into: Why there’s suddenly so much mid AI music on the timeline? The difference between “press one button” AI songs and actually using AI in a creative process? How @shaikhkev has been making AI-assisted tracks from his own lyrics and family stories?| Where producers like @sketchybongo_official are already using AI (demo vocals, mastering, workflow)? What makes albums like To Pimp a Butterfly or Songs in the Key of Life feel “human” and if tech can ever touch that? The messy part: copyright, training data, major labels, and who should get paid when AI learns from recorded music? Access and education – from bedroom artists in South Africa to anyone trying to understand their rights in this new wave?

If you care about music, creator economics or just want to understand what AI is actually changing (beyond the headlines), this is the ground-floor conversation.

🔔 Subscribe to Thinking Out Cloud on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 💬 Drop your take in the comments: is AI killing creativity, or are we just seeing more of what was always there?

Hosts: Niquita J (TT|@Niquitinha_), Kevin Rodrigues (TT|@shaikhkev), Yuvir Pillay (TT| @sketchybongo_official)

Show: Thinking Out Cloud – a conversation about how tech (especially AI) is messing with culture, music and the hustle.

All views are personal.

Here’s your first taste of the new show, dropping 25 November 2025.

In this teaser, the crew sit down in Dubai and open with the question a lot of artists are already whispering about:

Is AI killing music?

You’ll hear the start of the debate — where Kevin breaks down what he actually does in AI, Sketchy talks about the state of music creation right now, and Niquita pulls the thread on creativity vs convenience.

Just a preview… the full episode dives into: • Why so much mid AI music is flooding feeds? • “Press one button” tracks vs real creative process • How @shaikhkev uses AI to build from his own lyrics + stories? • Where @sketchybongo_official already uses AI in production? • What makes truly human albums feel the way they do? • The messy bit: copyright, training data & who should get paid • Access, education and the next wave of artists

Full Episode 1 drops next week.

🔔 Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts