Stranger Things Director Responds To ChatGPT Writing Rumors

Stranger Things may have ended weeks ago, but the seemingly never-ending controversies surrounding the finale have not slowed down. The latest piece of scandalous gossip that’s overtaken the fandom revolves around a scene from the newly released documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5. A screenshot from the flick that appears to show one of the Duffer Brothers using a laptop with ChatGPT tabs open has gone viral, with fans accusing the showrunners of using the generative A.I. tool to help write the final season.

Though the Duffers have yet to comment on the allegation, the director of One Last Adventure has weighed in on the speculation. Though Martina Radwan filmed the moment, she isn’t convinced that it’s as damning as fans are reading into it.

“I mean, are we even sure they had ChatGPT open?” Radwan said to The Hollywood Reporter on Jan. 13. “There’s a lot of chatter where [social media users] are like, ‘We don’t really know, but we’re assuming.’ But to me it’s like, doesn’t everybody have it open, to just do quick research? How can you possibly write a storyline with 19 characters and use ChatGPT, I don’t even understand.”

The director theorized that if the writers did have ChatGPT open, it doesn’t necessarily mean they were using it to write for them. “That’s like having your iPhone next to your computer while you’re writing a story,” Radwan said. We just use these tools … while multitasking. So there’s a lot going on all the time, every time. What I find heartbreaking is everybody loves the show, and suddenly we need to pick it apart.”

She concluded by saying she did not see any writers using ChatGPT to craft the show. “I witnessed creative exchanges. I witnessed conversation,” Radwan said. “People think ‘writers room’ means people are sitting there writing. No, it’s a creative exchange. It’s story development. And, of course, you go places in your creative mind and then you come back [to the script]. I think being in the writers room is such a privilege and such a gift to be able to witness that.”