How I AI

Using Veo 3 to create AI-generated music videos, like a Tiny Desk concert with Notorious B.I.G.

Anish Acharya is an entrepreneur and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, focusing on consumer investing and AI-native products. In this episode, he demonstrates how AI can be used for creative and personal projects beyond typical work applications. He walks through creating an AI-generated Tiny Desk Concert for Notorious B.I.G. and Kurt Cobain, building a book cataloging app using video analysis, and using browser automation for personal finance insights. Anish shares how these technologies allow anyone to bring creative ideas to life with minimal technical expertise, transforming what would have been impossible projects just a few years ago into accessible weekend activities. *What you’ll learn:* 1. A step-by-step workflow for creating AI-generated music videos featuring artists like Kurt Cobain and Notorious B.I.G. 2. How to extract vocals from existing tracks to create unique audio combinations for your AI-generated videos 3. A simple method for cataloging your book or record collection using video analysis and Gemini Flash 4. How to use Comet to analyze personal finances and get investment recommendations without manual data analysis 5. Ways AI is transforming childhood learning and play by enabling interactive storytelling and creative exploration *25k giveaway:*  To celebrate 25,000 YouTube followers, we’re doing a giveaway. Win a free year of my favorite AI products, including v0, Replit, Lovable, Bolt, Cursor, and, of course, ChatPRD, by leaving a rating and review on your favorite podcast app and subscribing to the podcast on YouTube. To enter: https://www.howiaipod.com/giveaway. *Brought to you by:* Notion—The best AI tools for work: https://www.notion.com/howiai Lenny’s List on Maven—Hands-on AI education curated by Lenny and Claire: https://maven.com/lenny *Where to find Anish Acharya:* • Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com/author/anish-acharya/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishacharya/ • X: https://x.com/illscience *Where to find Claire Vo:* ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/ Website: https://clairevo.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/ X: https://x.com/clairevo *In this episode, we cover:* (00:00) Introduction to Anish Acharya (03:05) How AI transforms creative constraints in music and video (06:00) Creating an AI-generated Notorious B.I.G. Tiny Desk Concert (07:36) Using GPT-4o to generate still images (09:27) Using Hedra to animate still frame images (10:40) Adding custom audio to video (11:30) Using Adobe Audition to clip and sync audio (15:42) How to use Demucs to extract vocals from any song (16:36) Using Hedra to generate a Tiny Desk Concert featuring Kurt Cobain (19:40) Creating a ’90s-style Nirvana music video with Veo 3 (27:40) Building a book collection cataloging tool with Gemini Flash (35:35) Using the Comet browser for personal finance analysis (37:20) How AI is transforming childhood learning and play (41:23) Tips for getting better results from AI tools *Tools referenced:* • GPT-4o: https://openai.com/index/hello-gpt-4o/ • Hedra: https://www.hedra.com/ • Adobe Audition: https://www.adobe.com/products/audition.html • Demucs: https://github.com/facebookresearch/demucs • Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/ • Veo 3: https://deepmind.google/models/veo/ • Kapwing: https://www.kapwing.com/ • Cursor: https://cursor.com/ • Google AI Studio: https://makersuite.google.com/ • Gemini Flash: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api • Comet: https://www.perplexity.ai/comet *Other references:* • Anish’s Notorious B.I.G. AI-generated Tiny Desk Concert: https://x.com/illscience/status/1935721063876550939 • NPR Tiny Desk Concerts: https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/ • Notorious B.I.G.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notorious_B.I.G. • Kurt Cobain: https://www.kurtcobain.com/ • Robinhood: https://robinhood.com _Production and marketing by https://penname.co/._ _For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co._

AAAnish AcharyaguestCVClaire Vohost

Aug 18, 2025·43m·Watch on YouTube ↗

📖 CHAPTERS

1. 1

   Why Anish uses AI for music: from DJ constraints to “creative satisfaction”

   Claire Vo introduces Anish Acharya (a16z) and frames the episode as a fun, consumer-focused tour of AI workflows. Anish explains how AI removes longstanding audio constraints (like isolating vocals) and reignites remix culture in a new medium.

2. 2

   Tiny Desk as a format: using constraints to unlock creativity

   They discuss why the Tiny Desk format works so well—tight constraints, recognizable setting, and intimate audio. Anish uses this as the conceptual template for resurrecting “impossible” performances in a respectful, non-derivative way.

3. 3

   Case study: building an AI Notorious B.I.G. Tiny Desk performance (overview)

   Anish shares the finished Biggie-style Tiny Desk clip and outlines the overall workflow. The key idea: assemble a believable still frame + the right audio layers, then use a tool to animate and lip-sync.

4. 4

   Generating the hero still image with GPT-4o Image Gen

   Anish demonstrates creating a Tiny Desk-style still frame (using Kurt Cobain as the live example). They highlight why 4o’s image generation is effective: strong prompt adherence and controllable edits.

5. 5

   Animating a still image with Hedra: frame-to-video + custom audio lip-sync

   They introduce Hedra as a practical tool that both generates video motion from a still and synchronizes uploaded audio. The chapter broadens into other applications like translating speeches and animating characters for storytelling.

6. 6

   Sourcing and preparing audio: pulling from YouTube and trimming in Adobe Audition

   Anish downloads a reference performance from YouTube and uses Adobe Audition to trim and align usable segments. They discuss current limitations (short clip lengths) and why constraints can actually improve creativity.

7. 7

   Extracting vocals with Demucs: turning any track into stems

   Anish introduces Demucs to separate vocals from instrumentation via a simple command-line flow. This enables custom mashups like an a cappella Kurt vocal or isolating Biggie vocals for live-band overlays.

8. 8

   Assembling the Tiny Desk clip in Hedra: minimal prompts, strong results

   With the still frame and audio ready, Anish uploads both into Hedra and generates the performance clip. They discuss how short, simple prompts can outperform over-engineered prompting when the model is strong.

9. 9

   Creating a ’90s-style Nirvana music video with Veo 3 (and refining prompts with 4o)

   Anish shows a multi-clip Veo 3 workflow to produce a gritty, camcorder-like grunge music video. He uses GPT-4o to diagnose “wrong energy” generations and iteratively steer toward the desired Seattle ’90s aesthetic.

10. 10

    Evaluating realism: what looks incredible vs what still breaks

    Claire reacts strongly to the realism—wardrobe, emotion, sequencing—while noting telltale artifacts. They call out specific failure modes (duplication, odd props) that creators learn to spot and work around.

11. 11

    Workflow #2: building a video-based book/record cataloger with Gemini Flash in AI Studio

    Anish pivots to a practical multimodal app: video of flipping through a collection → extracted frames → recognized titles/authors. He argues video is a “native” interface for bringing the physical world online.

12. 12

    Deploying personal software: from quick prototype to shareable Cloud Run app

    They compare how fast it is to build a working demo (minutes) versus making it production/shareable (hours). The takeaway is the rise of “personal software”—people building one-off tools for their own lives.

13. 13

    Comet browser for personal finance: AI agents operating websites (RPA)

    In a lightning round, Anish explains why he uses Perplexity’s Comet browser—its assistant can operate web apps and summarize insights without manual clicking. He applies it to portfolio analysis inside Robinhood.

14. 14

    AI for kids: interactive stories, play, and social-emotional learning

    They explore consumer AI adoption through parenting. Anish describes kids using AI as interactive collaborators (not passive media), and predicts classroom impact will extend beyond homework to social dynamics and SEL.

15. 15

    Getting better results: embrace surprises, reset often, avoid sunk-cost prompting

    Anish closes with a mindset for when models fail: follow unexpected directions sometimes, but don’t get trapped iterating on a broken approach. Restarting is cheap, and abandoning “bad branches” is a feature of AI creativity.