POLITICO Tech
Episode: Rebroadcast – Joseph Gordon-Levitt on AI, Hollywood and Owning Your ‘Digital Self’
Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Stephen Overly
Guest: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Episode Overview

This episode revisits a compelling interview with actor and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in Hollywood and beyond. The conversation explores the economic, ethical, and creative challenges AI poses for content creators, workers, and society at large. Gordon-Levitt discusses the dangers of tech companies exploiting user data without fair compensation and argues for individual digital ownership. He critically examines “AI theft,” legal and policy solutions, and Hollywood’s role in shaping cultural perceptions of AI.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Relationship with Technology

• Clarification of Stance
  Gordon-Levitt is not “anti-tech,” stressing his nuanced view:

  “You know, oftentimes when I say some of the things I do, the first response is luddite, anti-tech…which I don’t agree with.” (00:33)

• Personal Experience & Early Awareness
  His wife works in AI, giving him early insights into generative AI before it became mainstream (01:46).

How Generative AI Works and Common Misunderstandings

• The “Intelligence” Behind AI
  Gordon-Levitt pushes back on the idea of AI as a novel, independent intelligence:

  “There’s no intelligence in there other than the human intelligence…It’s an amalgamation of human intelligence.” (03:29–04:07)

• Public Misconceptions
  Many users miss that AI is built on vast datasets of human-generated content (04:07).

The Tensions: Creativity, Compensation, and Exploitation

• Exploitation of Creative Work
  He criticizes AI developers for using creators’ works without permission or compensation:

  “It’s not that they just invented this thing that can magically make videos. It’s that they took everybody’s videos without permission and without compensating any of those people.” (05:19)

• Economic Consequences
  He warns of removing incentives for creative excellence:

  “I’m worried about a world where there is no longer any economic incentive to have good ideas and act on those good ideas and be creative and be excellent and strive.” (07:00)

• Synthetic Data and Future Risks
  Industry’s reliance on synthetic data for future models is, to Gordon-Levitt, “a very dark and dystopian assertion.” (07:49-08:27)

Legal and Policy Solutions

• Notable Lawsuits and Legal Developments
  Reference to Disney and Universal suing MidJourney over IP use and the need for courts to resolve AI IP issues (08:27).

• Attribution and Ownership Models
  Gordon-Levitt is inspired by Jaron Lanier’s work on tracking data used in AI models:

  “What you want is for people to have ownership. That was the great innovation in the American Revolution.” (09:39–10:08)

  • Technical solutions could attribute valuable training data to original creators (10:28–10:41).

• Limits of Technical Feasibility
  Tech companies claim it’s “impossible” to track original data in models—Gordon-Levitt asserts it’s more about lack of business incentive (10:59–11:05).

• Need for Policy and Cultural Shifts
  Legal, policy, and cultural action are needed since companies alone have little incentive to change the current system (11:05–11:51).

• Legislative Action

  • Calls for laws granting people ownership of their “digital self:"

    “Make a law that says your digital self belongs to you.” (14:07)

  • Urges negotiable economic sharing when personal data is used for profit (14:14–15:36).
  • Supports transparency and regulation; mentions New York’s Raise Act and AI Training Data Transparency Act (20:55–21:45).

The “China Argument” and Tech Race

• On U.S.-China AI Race
  Gordon-Levitt acknowledges the national security concern but finds the “AGI arms race” analogy overblown:

  “…it’s a thinly veiled disguise for…we just want to make maximum money, we want to win.” (18:27–19:14)

  • Emphasizes that tech companies are driven by profit, not public interest or national security (19:15–19:32).

• Need for Government-Led Guardrails
  Government, not just private business, should create accountability and safety in AI advancements (19:32–20:39).

AI, Labor, and Copyright

• AI’s Impact Beyond Hollywood
  The economic ramifications extend to all “knowledge work”—professors, YouTubers, and others (06:48).

• Hollywood Strikes as a Model?
  He thinks labor unions (like SAG) have had partial success, but legislative and judicial solutions are necessary (22:34–22:51).

• Urgency of Regulation

  • The loophole in the “big beautiful bill” barring states from AI regulation could be disastrous; highlights rare bipartisan concern (24:05–24:36).
  • Transparency, reporting, and industry-specific regulations are essential (21:50–21:58).

Hollywood, Media, and Public Perception of AI

• The Power of Narratives
  Hollywood’s storytelling shapes the dominant public understanding of AI—but often personifies and exaggerates its capabilities for dramatic effect (25:01–25:32).

  • Quotes films like “Terminator” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as influential, yet cautions about anthropomorphizing AI:

    “I think that the personification of this technology is dangerous and we should be very careful about letting ourselves slip into the delusion that these products are people.” (26:29–27:18)

• The Challenge of Positive Sci-Fi
  Dystopias are easier stories to tell but points to Star Trek as an example of optimistic sci-fi done well (25:32–26:28).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI’s Human Roots:

  “There’s no intelligence in there other than the human intelligence.”
  —Joseph Gordon-Levitt (03:29)

• On Creators’ Compensation:

  “Does it make sense that they deserve 100% of the economic value and all the humans whose data they took deserve 0%?”
  —Joseph Gordon-Levitt (05:38)

• On Synthetic Data Dystopias:

  “…that’s just, to me, on its face, insane and sort of misanthropic.”
  —Joseph Gordon-Levitt (08:06)

• On Digital Ownership:

  “Make a law that says your digital self belongs to you.”
  —Joseph Gordon-Levitt (14:07)

• On the Tech Race with China:

  “Do we think that these companies are prioritizing national security and the public good? No, they can’t…They’re set up to prioritize their business interests.”
  —Joseph Gordon-Levitt (19:15–19:32)

• On Hollywood’s Influence:

  “I think that the personification of this technology is dangerous and that we should be very careful about letting ourselves slip into the delusion that these products are people.”
  —Joseph Gordon-Levitt (26:29–27:18)

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• [01:46] First encounter with generative AI and initial skepticism
• [03:29] On the misunderstood nature of AI “intelligence”
• [05:19] Uncompensated use of creators’ data for AI training
• [07:00] Concerns over lost creative incentives
• [08:27] Lawsuits over AI and IP theft (Disney, Universal, MidJourney)
• [10:28] Jaron Lanier’s proposal for data tracking and attribution
• [14:07] Legislative proposal: ownership of digital self
• [18:12] The China/AGI “arms race” analogy
• [20:55] NY State regulation efforts (Raise Act, Transparency Act)
• [22:34] Hollywood strikes and labor protections in the AI era
• [25:01] Hollywood’s outsized influence on perceptions of AI
• [26:29] Dangers of personifying AI in entertainment

Summary & Conclusion

This episode features Joseph Gordon-Levitt's measured yet urgent perspective on the threats and opportunities AI presents for not only Hollywood but every sector reliant on creative and knowledge work. He calls for better systems of ownership, compensation, and legal protection for individuals in the digital realm, criticizing the current environment as economically and culturally unsustainable. As policy debates intensify, Gordon-Levitt urges both governments and citizens to become informed and demand systems that value and protect our “digital selves.” The episode is an eloquent call to action for a fairer, more transparent digital future.