‘Stranger Things’ Doc Director Responds To ChatGPT Finale Rumors

The director behind the new Netflix film “Stranger Things”The behind-the-scenes documentary sets the record straight after a wave of online speculation claimed that the Duffer brothers used ChatGPT to write the series’ final script. When “One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5” premiered on Monday, longtime fans took to social media, insisting they had seen the AI ​​platform’s code open on PC. The moment in question appears during footage of creators Ross and Matt Duffer discussing how to structure their ideas for the finale, while a Google Doc is displayed open on their laptops, and that’s all it takes to ignite an entire online debate. The backlash quickly intensified, with angry fans accusing the Duffers of turning to artificial intelligence and suggesting they relied on Reddit fan theories while putting together the final chapter of “Stranger Things.”

Now, documentary filmmaker Martina Redouane is publicly defending the series’ makers, completely denying the speculation. “I mean, are we sure they have ChatGPT open?” Radwan told The Hollywood Reporter.

Pressed on the baseless allegations, Radwan strongly disagreed, saying that the idea of ​​using AI to write a sprawling, character-packed series like Stranger Things doesn’t make sense to her. “Well, there’s a lot of gossip there [social media users] Like, “We don’t really know, but we’re assuming.” But for me, isn’t it open to everyone just to do a quick search?”

“How you can write a story with 19 characters and use ChatGPT, I don’t even understand,” she continued.

Radwan also explained that she did not see anything in the writers room that would support online accusations, and emphasized the difference between having an accessible tool and relying on it unethically. “I haven’t seen unethical use of generative AI in a writers’ room. Again, first of all, no one has really proven that it was open,” she said. “This is like having your iPhone next to your computer while writing a story.”

According to Radwan, the presence of ChatGPT on someone’s computer does not prove any wrongdoing. She says this would just indicate that creators and the people around them are multitasking in the same way that most professionals do today, and that the Duffer brothers and other people behind the scenes of Stranger Things are “just using these tools… while multitasking.” She added that “there’s a lot going on all the time, every time” while creating the show.

Far from denying the allegations, Radwan admitted that she was disappointed by how quickly fans jumped to conclusions, especially considering how popular the series is. “What I find heartbreaking is that everyone loves the show, and all of a sudden we need to break it up,” she said.

When it comes to what she actually saw while the cameras were rolling, Radwan confirmed that the creative process didn’t look like what many viewers assumed, and it certainly wasn’t a room full of people outsourcing the work. “I witnessed creative exchanges. I witnessed conversation. People think ‘writers room’ means people are sitting there writing. No, it’s a creative exchange. It’s story development,” she said. “And of course, you go places in your creative mind and then come back [to the script]. I think it’s a privilege and a gift to be in the writers’ room to be able to witness that.

Elsewhere in the interview, Radwan was asked about a moment in the documentary where Netflix seemed to be running out of patience with how long it was taking to put scripts together, and whether she noticed real pressure coming from the streamer. Her response was that pressure is part of the job, and it’s not limited to Stranger Things.

“It’s very hard to take that out of context, because again, on every movie set, you have this situation, where you’re waiting for the script, and you’re rewriting the script. And that happens all the time,” she told the outlet. “The biggest pressure point on any movie set is time, which equals money. There’s a constant pressure point of, ‘Are we going to succeed?’ Are we going to get it done?”