Wired's Katie Drummond interviewed Matt Belloni, a veteran Hollywood journalist and founding partner at media outlet Puck, to cut through conflicting narratives about artificial intelligence's role in the entertainment industry. Belloni, who hosts the podcast "The Town" and writes the newsletter "What I'm Hearing…", argues that opinion in Hollywood is sharply divided: some professionals reject AI outright, others embrace it cautiously, and a small few, such as Ben Affleck, are already profiting handsomely from it. The distinction matters because it shows AI's influence on film and television is far more widespread and normalised than public debate often suggests.

Belloni distinguishes between "corporate AI", used broadly for streamlining production processes and search, and "generative AI", used for content creation, which remains contentious. He notes that some showrunners actively encourage writers to use tools like ChatGPT for creative brainstorming, such as suggesting jokes or describing settings, and that the Writers Guild permits this so long as a credited human writer remains responsible and jobs aren't displaced. He also points to studios experimenting with AI-generated films, shorts and pilots, describing the results as generally unimpressive so far but likely to disrupt animation first. The interview also touches on Ben Affleck's AI startup, sold to Netflix for $587 million, and broader questions about Big Tech's growing influence over the entertainment industry.