Stranger Things documentary director addresses the Duffer brothers' ChatGPT script scandal: "Nobody has actually proved that it was open"

(L to R) Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, and Noah Schnapp as Will Byers in Stranger Things 5. — (Image credit: Netflix)

After feeling slightly disappointed by the Stranger Things season 5 finale, fans have been pulling apart Netflix's new documentary with a fine-tooth comb, so much so that they found the Duffer brothers might have had a ChatGPT tab open while working on the season 5 script.

One particular scene in One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things season 5 shows series creators Matt and Ross Duffer working on the season 5 script on a Google Doc. But it's what's in the background that caught our attention. Among the many tabs open, we can see a Reddit tab, and what fans are certain is a ChatGPT tab. "Duffer Brothers really used ChatGPT for this script?" said one fan on Twitter, sharing a screenshot from the documentary.

The Duffers are yet to comment on the speculation. However, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, One Last Adventure director Martina Radwan addressed the subject. "I mean, are we even sure they had ChatGPT open?" said Radwan. "Nobody has actually proved that it was open... But to me it's like, doesn’t everybody have it open, to just do quick research?... That's like having your iPhone next to your computer while you're writing a story."

When pressed further on the matter, Radwan said, "How can you possibly write a storyline with 19 characters and use ChatGPT? I don't even understand." And when asked straight whether she witnessed an unethical use of generative-AI in the writers' room, Radwan answered, "No, of course not. I witnessed creative exchanges. I witnessed conversation." At the moment, there's no proof the Duffers were using ChatGPT at all.