From playwright to public policy: How a student’s experience in the entertainment industry fueled a passion for tech policy

Tech & Public Policy Scholar Matt Steinberg (MPP’26) is no stranger to Hollywood. After completing his undergraduate degree in economics and philosophy at New York University, Steinberg began a coveted internship in the writer’s room of NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, where he helped source and fact-check show material for the television host and comedian.

With a newfound interest in television writing and standup comedy, he spent eight years working for award-winning screenwriter and playwright Steven Levenson. During that time, Steinberg wrote Socially Unacceptable, a play about the challenges facing Facebook content moderators during the COVID-19 pandemic, produced at Caltech University. A few years later, Steinberg had a front-row seat to the 2023 Hollywood Writers Strike, where the impact of emerging technologies like AI and streaming took center stage. 

“I was always interested in the political and social systems that impact our society and how we could understand them better. Comedy writing was another way of examining those same questions,” said Steinberg. 

“Writing Socially Unacceptable tipped the scale in my decision to pursue public policy,” recalled Steinberg. “It also strengthened my interest in studying how emerging technologies impact society. In writing the play, I talked to content moderators and began to understand how significantly social media is rewiring our social fabric.” This, in combination with the writer’s strike, only solidified Steinberg’s decision to pursue tech policy.

“During the Writer’s Strike, I saw firsthand how AI would upend on the entertainment industry,” he added. “I saw the ways this technology began to negatively impact the lives of people around me. That’s what motivated me to look for ways to ethically integrate AI into our workforce.”

Debunking misinformation and debating AI

Now, as a Tech & Public Policy program scholar, Steinberg is working with McCourt School Associate Teaching Professor and U.S. election expert Thessalia Merivaki to research how election officials communicate with voters about elections within social media platforms.

“With all the noise and misinformation on the internet, election officials are the source for high-quality information online,” he said. “Our research looks at how to use technology for good. It is about building a proactive effort to combat election misinformation by creating a robust, data-driven election communications tracker.”

Steinberg is also involved in various student-led, tech policy-focused organizations at the McCourt School, including the Georgetown Tech Policy Initiative (GTPI). He recently moderated a GTPI panel discussion on the impacts of AI on journalism, featuring Kyle Chayka, New Yorker staff writer and Michael Koliska , associate professor in the Communication, Culture & Technology master’s program at Georgetown University’s School of Arts and Sciences.

As a graduate student, Steinberg is gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the various facets of tech policy. “After working with the fall 2024  TPP visiting fellows cohort in my first semester, I’ve realized that tech policy is about navigating a web of complex risks. The future of AI governance depends on balancing openness with accountability and ensuring its benefits are shared equitably,” he said. 

After earning his master’s degree in 2026, Steinberg plans to continue exploring the interconnecting threads of emerging technology and the labor force and finding innovative policy solutions that embrace tech like AI and boost opportunities for workers.

Learn more about the Tech & Public Policy Scholars program .