Music legend Herbie Hancock dives into AI while his all-star album with Kendrick Lamar is revamped

While Hancock's collaborators change from year to year, his interest in technology and the inner workings of things has been a constant. Or, as he put it in a 1984 U-T interview: "I'm a tinkerer who likes to know how things tick. I always carry around screwdrivers and pliers and things. I'm the guy who will go over to your house and, if the color on your TV is not right, I will make it right."

In this digital age, does he still carry screwdrivers and pliers? And what is the latest thing with which he's been tinkering?

"AI!" Hancock replied, laughing heartily.

"I'm interested in artificial intelligence and where it's gonna go — and the possible dangers of it. But even when I was just 5, I would try to take apart a clock to see how it worked. I got in a lot of trouble with my father when I tried to take apart the Lionel electric train he had bought me!"

The use of AI in music, film and other mediums is a matter of increasing controversy for artistic creators. But Hancock, who turned 84 on April 12, is interested in AI for multiple reasons.

"Well, first of all, I'm interested in it as a human being," he stressed. "Because that's what I am. I play music, but what I am is a human being. I'm concerned about what happens to us as human beings, not just as musicians, and to work. What's going to happen with a lot of the jobs we have now?

"That's a big concern, because a lot of jobs in a lot of fields will be taken over. It happened with the industrial age and with blacksmiths when the automobile came in. Now, we're in the age of technology. Every field will be impacted, including education, and the arts are also at risk. So, how do we solve those issues that most of us will be facing? These are concerns of mine."

Like many musicians whose tours evaporated overnight because of the pandemic lockdown that began in early 2020, Hancock found himself with unplanned time on his hands. It was then that he took a deep dive into AI and watched countless videos online about new virtual instruments and music technology.

Future shock

"Not that many years ago, if you wanted to play a keyboard, you had to go out and buy a physical keyboard," noted Hancock, who happily discussed some of his favorite music software at length.

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