Indian composer and two-time Oscar winner AR Rahman recently shared an insightful message during his appearance on Nikhil Kamath’s WTF podcast. Rahman revealed that whenever he meets tech leaders like OpenAI’s Sam Altman or Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, his first request to them is simple but powerful: don’t build technology that replaces people—build technology that uplifts them and helps break generational hardships.
Rahman echoed Kamath’s belief that human creativity gains even greater importance as technology advances. A large part of their discussion focused on artificial intelligence, a topic Kamath often brings up with the thinkers and innovators who join him on the show.
While discussing AI with Kamath, Rahman said, “My first comment to anyone working in AI is this: don’t create technology that makes people lose jobs. Instead, empower them to break generational curses like poverty, misinformation, and the lack of tools needed to create and tell their stories. If someone has just learned a skill and AI replaces it instantly, that person will be left helpless.”
Rahman recently visited Sam Altman at his office, where the two spoke about weaving emerging AI tools into artistic processes and using them to spark creativity and uplift talent across India.
Rahman also spent time with Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, and during their meeting, the two explored live demonstrations of the Comet browser as well as previews from Rahman’s forthcoming project, Secret Mountain.
Secret Mountain:
While discussing his next project, Secret Mountain—a film that merges traditional artistry with technology-enhanced production methods—he explained: “We use the best of AI and we use the best of humans.” He explained that the project has been three years in the making.
The episode also explored Rahman’s own path:
The episode also explored Rahman’s own path and highlighted lessons that resonate with India’s rapidly changing creative and live entertainment landscape—industries now drawing strong investor interest, witnessing technology-led transformation, and inspiring a new wave of ambitious creators and entrepreneurs.
