Reggie Watts
Comedian & musician
Improvising comedian-musician and former “Late Late Show” bandleader who calls himself “AI positive,” using the technology daily and urging fellow artists to treat it as a creative tool.
In his words
I just view AI as human evolution, and it gives us the capability to solve many, many problems.
I’m stoked about using them myself and telling my artist friends to get ahead of it, use it as a tool.
Biography
Reggie Watts (born 1972) is a comedian and musician known for wholly improvised sets built live from a loop pedal and a stack of synthesizers, and for eight years leading the band on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” His genre-scrambling act made him a fixture of tech and TED stages long before generative AI arrived.
An “AI positive” improviser
Watts has openly described himself as “AI positive,” including in a 2024 appearance on “The Daily Show.” He says he uses AI tools daily to refine searches and brainstorm ideas, and he has encouraged artist friends to learn them quickly rather than resist. Speaking to The San Francisco Standard in 2024, he framed the technology as an extension of human capability rather than a threat.
Reacting to the viral AI Drake song, Watts argued that machine-made music mostly threatens to “expose mediocrity” in corporate pop — a provocation that puts him closer to the technology’s enthusiasts than its critics, even as many of his musician peers signed protest letters.
Where they stand in the war
Who backs them up
Sources & further reading
Canonical record: https://battlelines.ai/topic/reggie-watts