As fans continue sorting through their feelings after the Stranger Things Season 5 finale, a new debate has taken over online. Netflix’s behind-the-scenes documentary has sparked speculation that series creators might’ve leaned on AI while writing the final season. One of the filmmakers behind the doc is now stepping in to cool things down.
Since the release of Stranger Things documentary One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5, fans have been combing through it. During a scene that shows Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer working on a Google Doc for Season 5, viewers noticed multiple browser tabs open. Alongside Reddit, one tab looked suspiciously like ChatGPT.
That was enough to set social media off. One fan posted a screenshot on X with the caption, “Duffer Brothers really used ChatGPT for this script?” and the theory spread fast. So far, the Duffers haven’t addressed the chatter directly, leaving room for speculation to run wild.
The conversation shifted this week when documentary director Martina Radwan spoke with The Hollywood Reporter. Radwan questioned whether fans are jumping to conclusions based on a blurry background detail.
“I mean, are we even sure they had ChatGPT open? 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.”
She’s not wrong about how common the tool has become. According to research conducted by OpenAI, ChatGPT had more than 800 million weekly active users by the end of 2025. That kind of reach makes it less shocking to see a tab open and far less meaningful on its own.
What fans seem worried about isn’t casual research, but the idea that AI may have helped write Stranger Things Season 5. Radwan shut that down pretty firmly when pressed on the subject.
“How can you possibly write a storyline with 19 characters and use ChatGPT? I don’t even understand.”
When asked directly if she saw any unethical use of generative AI during production, her answer was clear.
“No, of course not. I witnessed creative exchanges. I witnessed conversation.”
As it stands, there’s no evidence that the Duffers used ChatGPT to write scripts, outline storylines, or replace human creativity in the writers’ room. All that exists is a tab that may or may not have been open and a lot of assumptions filling in the gaps.
