At 47 years old, Steven Hiroyuki Aoki is not only one of the most popular DJs in the world; he is a global figure with multiple facets ranging from music to business or science. Founder of the legendary label Dim Mak Records in 1996 and author of albums such as HiROQUEST 2: Double Helix, Aoki defines himself as an artist, entrepreneur, and activist.
His conference at the Talent Arena, led by music journalist Cris Regatero, in the context of MWC Barcelona, was not a simple review of his more than 30-year career: it was a call to live with passion, to embrace creativity, and to pursue purpose with all one's heart. Advice that he encourages young people, who at that time had emptied all the aisles to crowd around the stage, to replicate in their respective professional projects.
For Aoki, technology is an ally, not a substitute. "We must use artificial intelligence, because they are part of the current rules of the game, but it will never replace the soul of what we do," he explained. AI can learn to compose and mix tracks, but it cannot feel, nor tell stories born from human experience. "I have tried to have AI create songs 'Steve Aoki style,' but none have managed to capture my essence. Personal narrative and identity are what truly connect with the audience."
However, Aoki does not see AI as a threat, but as a tool: he himself, although his productions do not contain AI, confessed to using it as an artificial assistant, not only for his role as a music producer, but also as a businessman. "The real threat is not artificial intelligence, but a world without rules." In this sense, Aoki emphasized the need to regulate this new digital environment. "With every technological advance, security tools are needed to protect people who write music," the DJ defended, especially on such delicate issues as copyright protection.
Although Aoki admitted that artificial intelligence can play a role as a support instrument in certain phases of the creative process, he also argued that it will never be able to replace the human experience, the feeling of community that is created around a show. "During the pandemic I performed from my home for millions of people: it was the time I performed for the most people, but also the time I felt most alone."
That experience taught him that human connection cannot be replaced by any machine. "Young Gen Z fans are not interested in perfection: they seek real, spontaneous, and authentic moments," he stated. The future, for Aoki, is not in imitating the cold perfection of the machine, but in enjoying spontaneous and improvised moments, like the cake throws after each show. Because it is that physical connection that artificial intelligence cannot imitate, but merely be a channel to help you get there.
Precisely connecting with the new generations in the audience, who struggled to raise their phones among the heads to get the best shot of Aoki, the DJ sent two pieces of advice to his audience: never lose the thirst for learning and the hunger to enjoy, and stay obsessed with what you do. Whether it's producing music and spinning it in large music venues, as in Aoki's case, or starting a career in the digital sector, like many of those in the room.
"The most important technical skill is to forge your own taste, and for that, you have to be obsessed with whatever you are working on""Passion is key: great DJs like David Guetta or Tiësto have never lost that thirst to improve. You have to love what you do, obsess over it, and protect your curiosity. That's the energy that makes people want to jump and vibe with you," the music producer stated. "The most important technical skill is to forge your own taste, and for that, you have to be obsessed with whatever you're working on," he added. In fact, he considers one of the keys to his success to be maintaining his youthful voice. "The Steve Aoki of 20 years ago still lives inside me; he still screams at me, and I don't plan on shutting him up."
And that is the energy that Aoki brings to his shows, being a regular in clubs in the big discotheques of Ibiza: "I feel a great emotional connection with Spain, I should make more songs thinking about the Spanish public," Aoki has acknowledged, speaking of figures like the Catalan Rosalía as a great reference.
Beyond music, Aoki maintains that optimistic vision of technology —understood as an ally and not as a threat or enemy— in other fields totally removed from musical production. Thus, he is hopeful about topics such as longevity, thanks to conversations with American researcher Ray Kurzweil: "In seven years we will reach a point where we will basically stop aging. We will be able to reverse age every year we live."
Despite everything, Aoki insists on an unbreakable principle: "No machine can replace human emotion, passion, and obsession." Just as, no matter how many holograms or humanoid robots exist, no artificial cake can replace the experience with which Aoki closes all his shows: throwing a cake into the audience. Although at the Talent Arena Aoki did not offer any musical show like the one his audience is accustomed to, it was an appeal to the human experience, which ended with the most analog act possible: signing autographs on paper and with a pen, in the age of messages and mobile phones. Because artificial intelligence can learn to compose, but it will never learn to obsess or pursue purpose with all its heart.