Happy Saturday, everyone!
Being the math-loving literature nerd that I am, I have always been OBSESSED with artificial intelligence. Like, there is so much theory behind it! 🤗 The geeky computer aspects of these systems are fascinating, there are so many parallels to language learning involved, and eerily sentient AIs are inarguably one of the best science-fiction tropes ever. So, of course, the fact that we’re actually getting to the point where eerily sentient AIs are becoming a thing that exists outside of literature has me beyond excited!!
(And possibly also slightly scared because I’ve read way too many dystopian AI books for my own good. But shhhh! 🤫)
Anyway, the artificial intelligence that everyone is currently talking about is OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT. Launched in November 2022, it has creepily human conversational skills that I was itching to try out for myself, especially after seeing Emily @ Frappes and Fiction share some of her experiences using the bot.
Since I, however, apparently have the mental capabilities of a three-year-old and have never grown out of the phase where I annoy everyone around me with super random what-if questions, I’ll be doing something a bit different today! Using all of my remaining I’ve-finally-managed-to-survive-my-first-full-year-of-teaching brain power, I’ve come up with some prompts for ChatGPT, asking it what would’ve happened if certain details of ten popular books out there had been just slightly different…
So sit back, enjoy, and prepare to laugh because some of these synopses are pure gold. Trust me, you’ll see!
Ooooh, this version of Twilight sounds as though it might even be able to achieve the impossible and rival the mermaid masterpiece that is A Sunrise of Serpents and Evaporation! 🤩
I mean, I don’t know how Atlantis ended up in here, but it certainly sounds intriguing. Just imagine how much fancier Edward sparkling amidst underwater ruins would be than him sparkling in a meadow, especially now that he’s been upgraded to prince! With the perfect mixture of angst and plot, I fail to see how this story wouldn’t become one of my new favorites…
Wow, this alternate version of Murder on the Orient Express sure is brimming with ambition! 😄 Honestly, I don’t know whether to be more terrified of Lady Macbeth being in a position to seek justice for a potential murder victim or of the fact that ChatGPT managed to construe a plot that is somehow an eerily accurate mix of a Shakespearean drama and Christiean mystery…
Either way, this sounds very character-driven and dark, so I might want to read it even more than Bella and Edward’s Atlantean adventures!
Voldemort may be villain of the Harry Potter series, but can anyone truly say they loathe him more than Umbridge? I highly doubt it!
Obviously, reading seven whole books about Umbridge would be fascinating, although no matter how much “personal growth” and “self-discovery” they feature, I’d probably be tempted to fling them against the wall in frustration at some point. Just imagine being in Umbridge’s head for thousands of pages! 😅
Still, I do love a good unlikeable narrator, and do you really think we could ever get a better one than the Hogwarts High Inquisitor herself?
Holy shit… I adore The Winternight Trilogy to pieces, but this version? I might end up loving it even more! 😍😍😍
A young snowy owl discovering the secrets of her ancient owl ancestors and meeting an enigmatic barn owl sounds like everything I never knew I needed, and as long as we also get some owly version of the iconic Winter of the Witch bathhouse scene, I’m totally on board with this retelling. Give me the whole thing, ChatGPT!!
Seeing how much I detest The Great Gatsby, I’m still not entirely sold, but the mere fact that Gatsby is pining after someone other than dumb Daisy already makes this version about a hundred times more intriguing than the original!
And Gatsby pursuing Nick in an increasingly all-consuming manner? Well, that sounds like I’m gonna get my share of homoerotic angst, so sure, I guess checking this out doesn’t sound too bad… 🤔
Is it just me, or is “The Artful Dodgers” the coolest name for a gang of space scoundrels ever? 🤣 Maybe I’m just a sucker for anything involving outer space, but this tale sounds seriously epic and way cooler than the original! Please, ChatGPT, I want some more!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Okay, I need this book ASAP! I already lost it over a certain US President munching on a chocolate bar while proclaiming he wants to make the world “great again”, although I am also a little bit scared of WHY ChatGPT chose to include that random detail. Is it just because that certain US President is a gold mine for political satire, meaning that the AI was able to draw on a lot of inspiration for this synopsis? Or did my internet history give the bot ideas as to what my own political opinions are? Like, I swear, I didn’t intend to offend anyone here; ChatGPT said it, not me!!
Either way, we live in a very scary world and laughter is sometimes a necessary coping mechanism… 🤷 Which means that I would totally buy a full version of this!
Yeah, why am I not at all surprised by the romance between Raoden and Sarene suddenly being a central focus in this? A central focus with “steamy” and “detailed descriptions of their physical and emotional connection”? **shudders** As if this romance wasn’t already traumatizing enough when Brandon Sanderson wrote it! 😬
However, ChatGPT, you can’t seriously expect me to believe that Sarah J. Maas would ever explore a magic system in greater depth than Brandon Sanderson! You could possibly convince me that Raoden and Sarene spicily growling “You’re mine” at each other might be preferable to them being madly in love without ever even having met, but no magic system of Maas’s would have even 1/100th of the complexity of Sanderson’s. This is the woman who writes worlds where my little pony collections and medieval castles coexist harmoniously or heroines who intuitively know how to use dangerous magical harps they’ve never seen before… I’m just not buying it!
Sorry, ChatGPT, but compared to the version without Gandhi in it? This honestly sounds a little boring… I guess, when it comes down to creating suspense, the odds are in favor of violence after all! 😅
Gandhi winning the Hunger Games, though? If that isn’t a statement, I don’t know what is! Although I guess he does have experience with the hunger aspect of it all that could’ve come in handy. He’s certainly a formidable opponent whom I wouldn’t want to face!
Did I give ChatGPT this freer final prompt solely so I could get a dose of childhood nostalgia paired with a highly relatable setting? Why yes, of course 😁 But it really delivered, okay?
Apart from modern additions like computer screens and the not-quite-English setting, this is basically the most Enid-Blyton-esque plot ever, combining both the boarding school and mystery aspects. It sounds like the perfect cheer-me-up adventure, and I would totally read it as a way to destress from grading exams, just like I used to reread The Famous Five, St. Claire’s, and Mallory Towers books when studying for my own tests back in the day! 😇
And with that, we’ve already reached the end of this post! Overall, I am now definitely slightly terrified of artificial intelligence – I mean, has it escaped your notice that ChatGPT is more knowledgeable, better at writing, and more creative than I am?? 😭 – but I also had a ton of fun with this and am excited to test the bot’s abilities even further in the future. Like, maybe I should make it write original fiction next and see what it comes up with?
Anyway, I would love to hear what you thought of these synopses down below, how you think they compare to the original stories, and which of these retellings you would most like to read! For me, I think it’s probably a tie between the owly Winternight version and the chocolaty political satire...
(Also, in case anyone is interested in chatting with ChatGPT themselves, you can do that here! Using the software is completely free, although you do need to create an account at OpenAI to gain access.)
A Book Owl's Corner 
I didn’t expect a post today so I almost missed this 🙈 You’ve really got a streak going with all these posts 😄
The rewritten Twilight doesn’t sound like Twilight at all anymore but I could totally see it gaining the same amount of popularity! Exploring Atlantis as mermaids? Yes please! Edward can sparkle all he wants! Also, I noticed it talked about tensions between the TWO underwater kingdoms but only mentions Atlantis. I’m actually glad it assumes we just know the other kingdom to be the Netherlands 😁😂
Reading from the perspective of Umbridge would actually be really interesting! Like, could I get to a point where I understand the choices of such a hated character and end up not hating her as much? I would deeply respect an author who could pull that off because that’s no easy feat.
“Morozko, a powerful and mysterious barn owl.” I died 😂😂😂😂 However, unlike you, I’m not too keen on this version of Winternight. It sounds like it made Morozko and the Winter King two different people and also made the Winter King the big bad. Where are Konstantin and the Bear?
I have not read The Great Gatsby but I would devour this version 😄
I need the Chocolate Factory one though! And honestly, making sure everyone has access to chocolate does sound like the only way to make the world “great again” 😂 I wouldn’t complain!
The Elantris one 😂😂 I read “the romance between Raoden and Sarene is a central focus, with their intense chemistry and passion driving the story forward.” and I thought “oh, so it’s the same as Sanderson wrote it.” 🙈 I do agree that it’s a little strange that it claims Maas would do all these different things better than Sanderson… but then I also remembered how badly that book was written. I haven’t read Maas but “giving supporting characters more agency and depth” wouldn’t really be that hard because the bar is so low. Like, you just have to stop a certain character from saying “sule” in every sentence and you’re there 😅
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Well, I did say I intended to stick to my posting schedule as long as it was somewhat feasible 😁 And the fact that I have next week off from school and decided to take the train home today instead of yesterday in order to give me a bit of extra time to get rid of my remaining cough certainly helped, too! Besides, I let the AI do most of the writing for me… 😇
You’re so right about that second Twilight kingdom! I had just imagined another Atlantis-like rivaling city underwater, but now that you’ve said it, I can’t believe I didn’t see it was the Netherlands 😂😂😂 Maybe that’s the reason Mermish is so similar to Danish – after all, we’ve learned from Olivie Blake that the two languages and countries are basically interchangeable 🤔🤣
I’d also love to read Umbridge’s perspective! Even if I didn’t end up not hating her, I’d probably be very intrigued because I’ve never loved hating anyone quite as much as her 😈 Although I’d also be very impressed if anyone could make me hate her less.
Oh, and trust me, I was in hysterics over that whole owl synopsis and basically already dead by the time I got to the Morozko part 🤣🤣🤣 There were just so many owl mentions, like the AI really wanted to make sure you noticed this series was about owls! But I guess it worked because no matter how many plot changes there are, I desperately want to read it now! 🤩 Although I guess maybe Morozko could still be the Winter King? He is “enigmatic” and “mysterious”, after all, so maybe he just didn’t mention to Vasya that he was actually the villain she was looking for. And I’m sure Konstantin and the Bear simply weren’t featured in the synopsis to avoid spoilers 😉
I agree that this Great Gatsby version sounds amazing, though! I’m just still skeptical because The Great Gatsby was truly one of the most traumatizingly boring and eye-roll inducing books I ever had to read for school – Consider yourself very lucky to have escaped it! 😅 – so I am weary of any plot changes, no matter how great, possibly being able to salvage it 🙈
Oh, and never fear, Line – once you’ve read Maas, it is impossible to read the words “intense chemistry and passion” and have associations that are remotely similar to anything Sanderson would write. The poor guy would probably faint if he encountered the kinds of content she has in her books! And I definitely don’t blame him – A Court of Frost and Starlight in particular has traumatized me for life 😅🙈 Which is also why I’m a bit skeptical about Maas giving the side characters depth – they’re all the exact same beautiful growling fae males or purring strong female characters 😬 – but I guess you’re onto something because, yeah, they definitely don’t say “sule” all the time… Or “kolo” for that matter 🤔
And obviously, I also want all of that world dominating chocolate! 🍫🥰
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The AI has solved the Danish Atlas Six problem for us! The book is actually set in the same universe as this rewritten Twilight! Can’t believe we didn’t realize that when we read it 😂😂
But if Morozko and the Winter King are the same person, I don’t see how we’re going to get the romance because either he’s evil or he tricked her very throughly 🤔 And when the characters are changed into animals, having a villain that is also an animal (the Bear!) was right there!
And maybe we should just stop reading Maas and Sanderson 🤔😂
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Yes, we must’ve been blind – the clues were all there! 🤣
And maybe owl-Morozko just had really good, convincing reasons for his deception? Don’t ask me what those would be, but I’m sure ChatGPT had something up its sleeve! 🤔
I still have high hopes for Stormlight Five, though… Like, maybe now that we’ve read all of Sanderson’s questionable early work, we’ll be blown away in comparison? 😅
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I haven’t quite figured out how I feel about ChatGPT and other AI (Roald Dahl’s brilliant short story ‘The Great Automatic Grammatizator’ has had quite an influence on my thinking) but I did enjoy your post, both the generated synopses and your witty commentary.
Like you, I’m not a Gatsby fan – and I don’t think this reworking would persuade me to give it another go. The new Enid Blyton, however, sounds much more my style than the original!
I think Willy Wonka as a trickster figure who oversees a microcosm of the global political system is brilliant – what a great prompt you came up with! I wonder what other groups could be substituted in? It can imagine it as a setup for some bizarre fanfic!
Nicole Kidman could do a wonderful job of an Agatha Christie Lady Macbeth if there were to be a screen version. Maybe it’s a little convoluted for a film, so a limited series might be the way to go.
Again, great post, thanks for sharing!
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Oooh, I had almost forgotten about that particular Roald Dahl short story, but I just went back and reread it and the similarities are definitely uncanny! I wouldn’t put it past ChatGPT to put writers out of work a couple of years from now 😅 And I’ve also watched way too many movies about mistreated AIs taking their revenge on humans who underestimated their sense of self and intelligence, I think…
It’s such a relief to hear from a fellow non-Gatsby fan, though! That book is so universally beloved and I just don’t see the appeal? 🙈 I’d definitely rather go for the Enid Blyton story as well!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s new synopsis had me in hysterics, though, and I AM rather satisfied with myself for coming up with that prompt 🤣 Who would’ve known it would lead to such greatness? I definitely need to try a few other groups as well and have ChatGPT write some of that fanfic for me! 😂
And oooh, I hadn’t even thought of these potentially being adapted for screen, but that would be awesome! Maybe I should ask ChatGPT for a few casting suggestions next?
Anyway, I’m really glad you enjoyed this and thanks for stopping by! 💙
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Haha, Agatha Christie but Shakespeare? I love Poirot but I would also love to read this version.
I love Oliver Twist in space😂 it actually sounds as bit like the movie “Space Raiders” about as boy who accidentally sneaks on a space pirate ship and has to go with them on their Adventures. Meanwhile finding out that they’re not that bad, and they’re nice.🤣
Hunger games with Gandhi does seem boring, and we would have to say goodbye to the beloved pair so… wahh
Also. Evil manipulating willy Wonka is hilarious😁😂
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Same! Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells are awesome, but I have the feeling that Lady Macbeth and her more unscrupulous methods would have me glued to the edge of my seat as well! 😂
I’ve never heard of “Space Raiders”, but if it’s anything like this version of Oliver Twist, I think I need to find out more ASAP! 🤗 Seriously, that synopsis was epic!
And yeah, I think I’ll pass on Gandhi and turn to evil Willi Wonka, too… 😈😂
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She would just flat out murder everyone probably.
It’s a kinda corny old movie, but a I still liked it.
Me too😂
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True… But she’d also be pretty good at placing the blame on other people, I feel like 🤔 And then Macbeth would probably start going mad due to his wife’s evil schemes, which would add a whole other layer of drama! 😂
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And the murderer issss: all of you! (Except you’re all dead since my wife killed ya)
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😂😂😂
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What a brilliant post. I love the Murder on the Orient Express and definitely want to read that one as I’m already intrigued by whether Lady Macbeth would further her own ambitions or actually bring the culprit to justice.
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Yes! That sounds like it would be a real moral conundrum for someone like Lady Macbeth, so I desperately want to know how it would pan out, too! 🤣
And I’m obviously glad to hear you liked the post – I haven’t had this much fun writing one in quite some time! 😁
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This was such a fun post to read! I really like Lady Macbeth and would love to read about her in a mystery. I think my favourite rewrite might be Twilight, just because it’s so different and I’d maybe hate Edward less if he was a merman? Either way, the underwater aesthetics would be awesome. I’m also a big fan of the Enid Blyton boarding school book, I loooove a good story set at a boarding school and Enid Blyton is such a childhood nostalgia author for me!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lay! 😊 Although I’m not so sure whether a few extra fins and underwater aesthetics could make me love Edward… I have a feeling his domineering personality would find some way to survive! 😂
I would also love to have the Lady Macbeth mystery and boarding school book, though 🤗 The childhood nostalgia is real! I was always so disappointed I didn’t go to boarding school and was never able to experience midnight feasts or trick my teachers… 😄
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This post is genius Naemi! I have to say one of my favourite posts by you Naemi! Love love loved reading it!
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I’m glad you liked it! 🥰 Honestly, I had so much fun talking to ChatGPT and thought its answers were hilarious, so I’m glad other people are also appreciating our conversations!
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This is such a cool idea! I would totally read Lady Macbeth in the alternate Murder of the Orient Express story, and the Willy Wonka satire sounds so funny!
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Yeah, this turned out even better than I expected it to! Who would’ve thought an AI could be so bizarrely creative? 🤣 I’d actually love to get my hands on quite a few of these, but the Willy Wonka satire is definitely up there among my favorites. I already lost it just reading that synopsis!
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Huh! I can’t believe I’ve come across a fellow math-loving literature nerd who is also obsessed with AI. That description would fit me perfectly. Anyway, loved your post (in particular the peaceful Gandhi version of The Hunger Games). I have had fun playing around with the endless possibilities of ChatGPT and also thought about writing a post, although very different from yours. Let’s see… And yes, thinking too much about the future of AI is definitely scary.
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Fellow math-loving, AI-obsessed literature nerds are always welcome! 🤗 I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this post and would love to see what ChatGPT-related idea you’ve got up your sleeve… I’ve been having a ton of fun playing around with the bot and definitely haven’t had enough yet!
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THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN TO READ + SUCH AN INNOVATIVE IDEA!!
i love the wild prompts you’ve given asdfghjkl
i agree, merman!edward sparkling underwater is definitely more fun. and the underwater setting?? the corals, the rival kingdoms, the fishes THE POTENTIAL !!!!
also i desperately need a macbeth x orient express retelling now ah! i definitely prefer it to the original book
ok you’ve gotten me thinking now; imagine romeo and juliet x and then there were none?!?! or even hamlet!
also morozko being a BARN OWL lmao i can’t even imagine that. i do prefer the original Winternight but this sounds like an adorable, atmospheric tale ❤ also it has OWLS
charlie & chocolate factory retelling sounds so GOOD i really want to read it now 😂
i've neve read great gatsby but jay and nick definitely had a romantic subtext 😄
also, this sounds SO GOOD!! dark, homoerotic friendships that spiral down are my favourite!!
(btw, if you want to read a nick x jay retelling then i highly recommend "self made boys" it's a t4t romance and the writing is EXQUISITE)
sjm writing elantris would result in moans and groans taking over the plot.
"You could possibly convince me that Raoden and Sarene spicily growling “You’re mine” at each other might be preferable to them being madly in love without ever even having met, but no magic system of Maas’s would have even 1/100th of the complexity of Sanderson’s. This is the woman who writes worlds where my little pony collections and medieval castles coexist harmoniously or heroines who intuitively know how to use dangerous magical harps they’ve never seen before… I’m just not buying it!"
i completely agree haha. sjm has a very uhh… fae romance style of writing that doesn't really delve into the world building.
the enid blyton retelling sounds absolutely lovely 😌 i need this book to exist pls.
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I’m glad you liked it! 😂 Honestly, I had way too much fun thinking of these prompts and seeing which bizarre scenarios ChatGPT would come up with next!
And, oh my gosh, I definitely want a Hamlet x And Then There Were None Retelling!!! 🤩 Hamlet’s indecisiveness would make the whole thing hilarious no matter which role he was in, and, I mean, there are plenty of deaths in that tragedy that could be worked into the mystery somehow… Though I suppose Romeo and Juliet also wouldn’t be the worst at that 🤔
YES, THE OWLS!! 🤗🥰🦉🦉🥰🤗 They’re the best part about that retelling, so obviously, I was already completely sold no matter what the plot was!! 😂 But yeah, the AI killed it with that political satire and the Gatsby and Enid Blyton retellings, too.
“Moans and groans taking over the plot.” 😂😂😂 That is pretty much the most accurate description of Sarah J Maas’s writing ever! Seriously, I’m dying! 🤣🤣🤣 Although Elantris could hardly get any more mediocre than it already is, so…
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first of all, how did you even come up with these wild prompts?! i cackled when i read the THG and Gandhi one. however, i don’t think he would win because he might be experienced going hungry but it is in some favourable conditions and alsoooo i may just not be a fan of him lol (tbh no one who studied in the indian education system is, we can clearly smell the way he is praised and what his actions meant for people around him).
loved this post! it was very entertaining haha.
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I don’t know… My brain has the weirdest ideas when I’m tired, so maybe I should write my posts in that state more often 🤣
And oooh, it’s so interesting to get your insights on Gandhi! I feel like here in Europe, he’s almost universally praised, but we also never talk about him in any great detail 🤔 I’m glad you enjoyed seeing him in ChatGPT’s version of The Hunger Games, though!
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This post is hilarious 😂
I already was a bit cautious when it comes to AI, but reading this made me increasingly more terrified as I went. Why is this bot more creative than I’ll ever be?
So many gems here. If Twilight was a mermaid masterpiece there’d be definitely more chances of me reading it than it’s current form. I mean, sparkly merman prince? Sign me up! I can’t decide if my favourite is Lady Macbeth solving mysteries on the Orient Express, Oliver Twist in a galaxy far far away (you can be certain I read this synopsis imagining it as a star wars crawl with the music in my head), or the Chocolatey new world. These all- and it’s no joke- sound genuinely intriguing. I would absolutely read them should they existed!
And Boats against the current. I know people who would be thrilled at the idea of Gatsby obsessively pursuing Nick, and you know what? It’s an interesting new spin on the concept of Nick being in love with Gatsby the entirety of the novel. Maybe now that it’s public domain, someone has to actually write this.
I can tell you had so much fun with this post, I’d love to see more playing around with the bot!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it! 😁 Although, yes, it is terrifying just how smart and creative this bot is! I could probably let it take over my blog for me and whatever it would write would be infinitely better than my own posts 😭
But lol, I definitely feel you on wanting these books! Since the Twilight and Chocolate Factory ones already had me cackling just from reading their synopses, I’m sure they’re going to be comedy gold! 🤩 And the Lady Macbeth mystery, the sci-fi Oliver Twist adventure, and The Gay Gatsby also sound pretty epic to me!
But yeah, playing around with this bot is a ton of fun and I definitely highly recommend having a bit of fun with it… 😁😇
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