Will.i.am Completed His First Semester Teaching An Agentic AI Course At Arizona State University – AfroTech
Will.i.am has completed his first semester teaching an agentic AI course at Arizona State University (ASU).
As previously reported by AFROTECH™, will.i.am, founder and CEO of FYI.AI, began a 15-week journey in January 2026 to teach students “The Agentic Self” at ASU’s The GAME School. Will.i.am said the opportunity marked a new era in his life.
“From creating global unifying music to establishing my i.am Angel Foundation, which empowers 15,000 Los Angeles area high school students with STEM skills and sends thousands to college, I find the answer to my question ‘Where’s the love?’ in this course.”
When considering the future — and the next generation — he has not overlooked AI’s role. He views the ASU course as “a solution to AI replacing human jobs.” Across two locations and 16 class meetings, he taught 75 students ages 18 to 70 years, including undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree learners, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™.
Students learned about a range of topics, including ethics, bias elimination, and community building. The course culminated in student projects centered on personal AI agents. Focus areas included supporting small businesses, assisting military veterans in understanding their benefits, and teaching African languages not offered by Google Translate, among others.
The top 10 student Agentic AI projects were presented to a panel of judges, including Alan Arkatov, executive director, Arizona State University Learning Transformation Studios; X. Eyee, senior policy advisor at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy; and will.i.am.
The winners were:
- Claudia Beaton (1st place)
- Mira Winick (2nd place)
- Chris Helm (3rd place)
Beaton’s project trained an agent to assist small businesses, such as food and beach vendors in Brazil, with onboarding onto GetAki.app. According to its website, the all-in-one app system includes digital menus, mobile payments, sales analytics, and customer data.
To commemorate the projects and completion of the class, a celebratory party was held on the final day.
The ASU’s agentic course is one of the first university-level personal AI agent courses offered in the U.S., created for students without computer science or coding prerequisites, per the press release.
