Stranger Things Documentary Director Responds To ChatGPT Speculation

The director of the new Stranger Things documentary is defending the show’s creators amid speculation that they used the generative AI tool ChatGPT to help them come up with the finale.

One Last Adventure, a making-of documentary about Stranger Things’ fifth and final season, premiered on Netflix earlier this week, featuring the cast and crew as they prepare for filming the last episodes.

In one scene, co-creators The Duffer Brothers were seen using a computer to piece together the script for the finale, with some eagle-eyed viewers claiming to have spotted ChatGPT tabs open in their internet browser.

Asked about this speculation during a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Martina Radwan began by questioning the veracity of fans’ claims, before saying: “There’s a lot of chatter where [fans] 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.”

She continued: “First of all, nobody has actually proved that it was open. That’s like having your iPhone next to your computer while you’re writing a story. 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.”

The Hollywood Reporter’s interviewer then asked Martina to confirm she “didn’t witness an unethical use of generative-AI in the writers room”, to which she insisted: “No, of course not.”

“I witnessed creative exchanges. I witnessed conversation,” she added. “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].”

HuffPost UK contacted Netflix for comment on Tuesday and did not receive an immediate response.

The use of generative AI has become a contentious issue in the entertainment industry over the last few years, with the Hollywood strikes of 2023 being partly inspired by the threat posed to creators by the rise of artificial intelligence.

All five seasons of Stranger Things, as well as the documentary One Last Adventure, are now streaming on Netflix.