I would like to welcome you back to our what if series where I ask ChatGPT a question and it chooses a answer for my family, my friend Rene and even our dogs. The questions were becoming so long that beginning today were breaking it up into sections.
This way you can pick the section or sections you want to read. Part A: The Immediate Family, Part B is Friends & Family, Part C is our Doggies and the last section is where ChatGPT tells us what they think my whole family is. At the end of each post leave me a comment and let me know if ChatGPT got there answers right or not.
This week’s What If I Was…? question asks something a little different. Instead of asking what color we would be, what season we would be, what song we would be, what flower we would be, or what book we would be, I asked ChatGPT:
“If you said I was a place, what place would I be—and why?” And when I say a place, I don’t mean a city, town, state, or country. I mean an actual physical place. A place you could walk into. A place you could sit. A place you could visit. A place that somehow captures something about a person.
I know not everybody uses ChatGPT, and that’s perfectly okay. This isn’t about saying ChatGPT knows our family better than we do. The fun is asking ChatGPT to make a creative choice and then seeing whether the people who actually know us agree.
Sometimes ChatGPT gets it exactly right. Sometimes it makes us laugh. And sometimes it gives us an answer that makes us think about somebody in a completely different way. For this first part, we’re starting with my immediate family: myself, David, Charlie, and Suzanne.
David — ChatGPT chose a garage workshop for David because it represents a place where things are worked on, repaired, figured out, and sometimes completely taken apart before they are put back together.
It is practical. It is hands-on. It is a place where somebody can look at something that isn’t working and say, “Let me see if I can fix that.” It can also be a quite place for someone to come and rest.
A garage workshop also represents independence. He has his tools and he has projects. He can work at his own pace. He can learn by doing and then teach somebody else what he knows.
For David, the garage isn’t simply about fixing things. It represents the kind of person he is—practical, dependable, hands-on, and willing to work with his own two hands. It also represents something that can be passed down.
A father teaching his son how to work on a car. A husband fixing something around the house. A dad showing his child how something works instead of simply telling him. That’s why ChatGPT chose a garage workshop for David.
My Thoughts: ChatGPT got this one exactly right. If we ever had a house, one of the things David has always wanted is a garage. Not just somewhere to park the car. A real garage where he could go outside and fix things.
He has always wanted a place where he could work on cars, work on equipment, and teach Charlie how to work on things. And David has had his lawnmower shop over the years, so this isn’t some imaginary version of him.
This is David. He’s hands-on. He’s practical. He’s dependable. And a lot of that goes back through our families. It reminds me of both his father and my father and the things they knew how to do with their hands. So yes, David absolutely belongs in a garage workshop.
Do you think ChatGPT picked the right place for David or is there something different you would have picked?
Glenda — ChatGPT chose a front porch swing for me because a porch swing is a place where people come to sit down, talk, tell stories, watch the world go by, and feel welcome. It isn’t necessarily a place where something important has to happen.
Sometimes the whole point is simply being together. You can sit on a porch swing with a favorite beverage. You can watch people walking down the street. You can listen to the wind. You can watch the rain. You can sit there on a beautiful summer evening or bundle up when it’s cold.
A porch swing represents hospitality, conversation, memories, and the willingness to slow down long enough to enjoy another person. It is a place that says: “Come sit awhile.” And that is why ChatGPT chose a front porch swing for me.
My Thoughts: I absolutely love this one. Because this really is my favorite place in the world. I tell people all the time: “Come pull up a chair, bring your favorite beverage, and let’s sit outside for a while.”
I don’t care if it’s windy. I don’t care if it’s raining. I don’t care if it’s cold. I don’t care if it’s sleeting. I don’t care if it is snowing. If we can sit outside and talk, I’m happy. I love watching the world go by. I love watching people walk past.
I love sitting outside and just talking about absolutely nothing and everything. And then I started thinking about how this goes back through my family. My mother-in-law loves sitting outside too. I’ll go down to her yard and sit outside with her.
My dad had a swing in his yard. So maybe the front porch swing isn’t just something I like. Maybe it is part of something that has always felt like home to me. A place where people sit.
A place where people talk. A place where stories happen. A place where somebody can pull up a chair and stay awhile. Just like on this new site it says pull up a chair so yes, ChatGPT. You got me.
Do you think ChatGPT got me or is there another place you would have chosen?
Charlie — ChatGPT chose a photography studio for Charlie because it is a place where creativity, technology, people, and images all come together. Charlie sees things differently. He notices images. He understands technology. He likes creativity. He enjoys the behind-the-scenes work.
And a studio gives him a place where he can create without necessarily having to be surrounded by people all day. It could be a photography studio. It could be a gaming studio. It could be an art studio.
It could be a digital production studio. It could eventually become a career. It could be all these things and so much more when it’s is a place where Charlie gets to make something that didn’t exist before he walked into the room.
My Thoughts: I can absolutely see this. And I actually think Charlie needs half photography studio and half gaming studio. Charlie is creative. He loves creativity and technology. He sees things differently than other people do. And he is fantastic at drawing, just like his dad.
There is another family connection here, too. Charlie’s Uncle Don was a photographer—a famous photographer—and at one point he was going to teach Charlie photography. So photography isn’t completely out of nowhere.
Maybe someday Charlie could actually turn some of this creativity into a career. He could photograph. He could draw. He could create digital art. He could work with gaming and technology.
And he could do much of that work in his own creative space. So I think ChatGPT was onto something. Maybe Charlie’s place isn’t simply a photography studio. Maybe it is his own creative studio.
Do you think ChatGPT picked the right place for Charlie or is there another place they should have chosen?
Suzanne — ChatGPT chose a butterfly garden for Suzanne. A peaceful physical place filled with flowers, sunlight, color, and butterflies. It is a place where everything feels alive and free. A butterfly garden represents transformation, beauty, freedom, and a life that continues in another form.
For someone who is no longer physically here, it can also represent a place where we can imagine that person being completely free. ChatGPT imagined Suzanne surrounded by flowers and sunlight, with butterflies moving freely through the garden.
My Thoughts: This one fits Suzanne to a T. I immediately picture pink and yellow tulips. Lots and lots of sunlight. Beautiful flowers. And butterflies flying free. With music playing in the background.
Because Suzanne is no longer here on the face of the earth, I love the idea of imagining her as a butterfly flying wherever she wants to go. And there is one very personal reason this choice means even more to me. “Butterfly Kisses” was the last song I ever sang to Suzanne.
So when ChatGPT chose a butterfly garden, it connected to something much deeper than simply choosing a beautiful place. I can picture her there. Free. Surrounded by flowers. Surrounded by sunlight. With butterflies everywhere. That one feels right.
Do you think ChatGPT picked the right place or is there another place that fits Suzzane?
Four people. Four very different places. And somehow, every place brought up a story. David’s garage connects generations. My front porch swing connects family and hospitality. Charlie’s creative studio connects art, technology, and family history. And Suzanne’s butterfly garden connects flowers, sunlight, freedom, and one of the most important memories of my life.
That’s the fun of What If I Was…? The answer isn’t really the point. The stories that come afterward are. What if you were a place? Where would you be? Maybe the answer tells you more than you expected. As it did for my family.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates