Hollywood’s A.I. Moment

About this episode

<p>There’s a lot of anxiety about artificial intelligence invading Hollywood; the general mood there right now could be called “doom and gloom.” But speculation about a future where A.I. actors perform A.I. scripts in A.I.-generated movies often obscures the role A.I. is currently playing in the industry.</p><p>In this episode, the host Michael Barbaro talks with the Hollywood reporter Brooks Barnes and the movie critic Alissa Wilkinson about the ways that A.I. is already showing up in our movies and television today, and how they see it contributing to — and complicating — the future.</p><p> </p><p><strong>On Today’s Episode:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/alissa-wilkinson" target="_blank">Alissa Wilkinson</a> is a Times movie critic.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/brooks-barnes" target="_blank">Brooks Barnes</a> is the chief Hollywood correspondent for The Times.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Background Reading:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/movies/documentary-filmmaking-ai-trust.html" target="_blank">Can You Believe the Documentary You’re Watching?</a></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/business/media/disney-openai-sora-deal.html" target="_blank">Disney Agrees to Bring Its Characters to OpenAI’s Sora Videos</a></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/business/media/sphere-wizard-of-oz-ai.html" target="_blank">‘The Wizard of Oz’ Is Getting an A.I. Glow-Up. Cue the Pitchforks.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/movies/wizard-of-oz-sphere-review.html" target="_blank">Is ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at Sphere the Future of Cinema? Or the End of It?</a></p><p> </p><p>Photo: Roger Kisby for The New York Times</p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>