Uncanny Valley | WIRED BIG INTV: Fallout Director Jonathan Nolan Says He's Still a Techno-Optimist
25 snips
Feb 3, 2026 
Jonathan Nolan, filmmaker and writer behind Memento, Westworld, and the Fallout TV adaptation, discusses his fascination with AI and tech in storytelling. He talks about an AI inflection point, how tools can help new filmmakers without replacing collaborative craft, and the choices he made adapting a game for television.
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Two Competing Views Of LLMs
- Nolan sits between two views: LLMs as glorified search and LLMs as potential cognition.
- He acknowledges both the plausibility of powerful AI and the history of many false AI starts.
Stay Close To Practitioners To Cut Hype
- Nolan stays close to AI leaders and research to separate hype from reality by listening in closed-door conversations.
- He recommends engaging directly with practitioners to understand real capabilities.
AI Feels Like Exploring Alien Ruins
- Nolan compares current AI advances to an alien spaceship crash: teams explore unexpected rooms of capability.
- He notes the tech can produce rapid, surprising applications that feel like discoveries.
