I asked ChatGPT to generate a story for me to ascertain the quality of the product. I took inspiration from this picture I generated from open.ai’s SDXL.
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It’s not quite a literal reading of the prompt I used, which was “a Medieval princess eating a heart-shaped potato.” But it’s unusual enough to serve my purpose.
The prompt for the story was “A fairy tail in the style of the Brothers Grimm about a princess who ate nothing but potatoes.”
Once upon a time, in a kingdom nestled between rolling hills and lush forests, there lived a princess named Gwendolyn. Unlike most princesses who indulged in lavish feasts of roasted meats and sweet pastries, Princess Gwendolyn had a peculiar palate. She adored potatoes in all their forms – mashed, boiled, fried, and roasted. From the moment she could chew, potatoes were her sole sustenance.
Now, King Frederick and Queen Isabella, Gwendolyn’s parents, were concerned about their daughter’s unusual eating habits. They tried to entice her with fruits, meats, and delicacies from faraway lands, but Gwendolyn remained steadfast in her love for potatoes.
One day, a great famine struck the kingdom. Crops withered, and the land lay barren. The people grew desperate, and even the royal pantry dwindled to meager supplies. Yet, amidst the scarcity, potatoes thrived in the kingdom’s soil, offering sustenance when all else failed.
As the famine worsened, neighboring kingdoms sent emissaries with offers of aid, but Gwendolyn’s father, King Frederick, refused their charity, prideful of his kingdom’s resilience and his daughter’s peculiar preference.
Determined to help her people, Princess Gwendolyn devised a plan. She proposed that every acre of the kingdom’s fertile land be cultivated solely for potatoes. The royal decree was issued, and soon fields once barren bloomed with rows upon rows of potato plants.
As the harvest season arrived, the kingdom flourished with an abundance of potatoes. Princess Gwendolyn, with her unwavering dedication to the humble tuber, had saved her people from starvation.
News of Gwendolyn’s ingenious solution spread far and wide, capturing the attention of neighboring kingdoms. They marveled at the resilience of the potato and the wisdom of the princess who championed it.
In recognition of her bravery and ingenuity, Princess Gwendolyn was hailed as the Potato Princess, beloved by her people and admired by neighboring realms. And from that day forward, the kingdom embraced the potato as its staple food, ensuring prosperity and plenty for generations to come.
And so, Princess Gwendolyn’s love for potatoes not only sustained her but also nourished an entire kingdom, proving that sometimes, even the most humble of foods can hold the key to abundance and happiness.
The piece comes across as overwritten, and the names are cliche, but it’s a serviceable pastiche, though the plot twist wasn’t especially creative. If you’re into fairy tales, the older ones can enter extremely bizarre territory. Of the prose, some phrases seem “right” for a fairy tale, such as “They tried to entice her with fruits, meats, and delicacies from faraway lands, but Gwendolyn remained steadfast in her love for potatoes.” Others, like “Princess Gwendolyn, with her unwavering dedication to the humble tuber, had saved her people from starvation” enter parody territory.
In sum, easy to generate, and easy to detect. At this point anyway.
