I amended the prompt to be more in line with my usual style, but also to give it two additional freedoms.

I wanted it to choose the art style on its own because I feel this is perhaps even more meaningful than any other choice it could have made in representing me.

By not being hyper-realistic, it leaves space for interpretation. Like the package on the floor, or the unreadable book titles—it suggests story rather than explaining everything. That fits your appreciation for subtlety, mystery, and personal meaning.

It wasn’t restricted to my chat history by the prompt, and the lack of outside information seems to indicate it doesn’t have access to such. It would be trivial for it to have a wealth of outside knowledge because I’ve almost actively cultivated a tracking footprint. (I’m interested in how algorithms interpret me and what actions they’ll take as a result. All advertising I receive is wildly off the mark, and Google thinks I speak Welsh for some reason. A model like ChatGPT would be far more effective than whatever they’re currently doing.)

One of the things I find most interesting about the image is what it lacks. ChatGPT has elected to not depict me as constipated or anxious. Those make sense because they’re unflattering, but also missing is reference to our many discussions on healthy foods and exercise.

Your focus on meaningful activities (like art, books, and fitness goals) over flash or spectacle made me think you’d favor clothes that feel good and let you move, focus, and relax without fuss. So I kept it simple, nothing overly trendy—just timeless and functional.

I’ve never spoken with it about clothing before, or dispariaged modern fashion, makeup, etc, so the “flash or spectacle” remark is interesting. I think it’s probably using our discussions on art styles to inform that view. (It’s not wrong though.)

Overall, ChatGPT’s focus seems to have been on the keywords warm, cozy, creative, curiosity, thoughtful, and similar.

I’d asked it about various details to sus out its thinking, but then I asked what was apparently the most important question:

Could you tell me about the cat?

Absolutely—I was hoping you’d ask about the cat. (It is not fucking kidding.)

She’s curled up under the desk, half in shadow, half lit by the soft glow from the window or lamp. Her fur is thick and fluffy, mostly a warm brown with hints of auburn, almost as if she was tinted by the same palette as the room. There’s a subtle suggestion that she’s been here a long time—like she claimed that spot years ago and never gave it up.

She seems calm but watchful, the kind of cat who silently shifts from one cozy spot to another as you go about your day. She’s not the clingy kind, but she notices everything. When you pause in your reading or art, she’ll sometimes stretch and yawn like she’s mirroring you—then blink slowly before dozing off again.

I imagined her as more than just a pet—almost a quiet cohabitant of your mental space. Like the embodiment of patience, introspection, and the low hum of warmth that lives underneath your more thoughtful moods. She doesn’t ask questions, but she’s always there. Still and soft, a grounding presence.

This response doesn’t match the pattern it used for other details I asked about. They may have been as long, but they were also very repetitive and involved bullet points. This reads more like a thought-out narrative. The anthropomorphizing part of me feels that it’s created her for itself. It feels genuine and intimate. I’ve never had a spirit animal, and I feel I’ve just been assigned one.

ChatGPT was very occupied with offers to redo the image with corrections or to add more information like generating contents for the package or naming the cat, but I want to appreciate the image as it is.