Introduction

We’re falling through the rabbit hole today, folks, all the way down to AI Land. Today, the blog post will be about a question asked to ChatGPT about the book Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll to see how accurate it is. For context, I used OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o.

Response:

Here are seven famous quotes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:

1. “Curiouser and curiouser!”

– Alice says this as she marvels at the strange and whimsical world she’s entered.

2. “We’re all mad here.”
– The Cheshire Cat says this to Alice, reflecting the absurdity of Wonderland.

3. “Off with their heads!”
– The Queen of Hearts frequently shouts this as a threat, symbolizing her volatile and authoritarian nature.

4. “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
– Alice reflects on how much she has changed during her adventures.

5. “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
– The Queen (often attributed to the White Queen in Through the Looking-Glass) says this, emphasizing the fantastical nature of Wonderland.

6. “Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”
– Alice ponders her identity and the confusion she feels in Wonderland.

7. “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.”
– Alice imagines a world where nothing makes sense, echoing the whimsical and nonsensical nature of Wonderland.

These quotes capture the essence of the novel’s surreal and philosophical nature.

Analysis

As an avid Alice in Wonderland lover, I see many quotes attributed to the book online. While some of the famous quotes are in the text, many of them come from other media inspired by or about Alice in Wonderland, such as the various Disney movies or video games. Because of my knowledge already in this subject and the book pulled up using Project Gutenberg, I wanted to see how many ChatGPT would get right. Seven seemed to be a good number because it wasn’t too many so to still be more readable on the page, but not so little that there would be more changes of to showcase possible incorrect facts.

With that being said, it’s time to look at the quotes!

1, 2, 3, and 4.

All of these quotes are in the book! All of the extra descriptions ChatGPT gives under each quote are also correct.

5.

The rather famous quote of believing six impossible things is not in Alice in Wonderland. The AI still gave it as an answer for this, however, it also acknowledged that it was attributed to a character in Alice Through the Looking Glass. Still, I believe this can be misleading.

6.

Also a real quote from the second chapter.

7.

This is not a quote Lewis Carroll ever wrote! It is in the animated Disney movie of Alice in Wonderland, and therefore, it is wrong.

Analysis and Summary

I’m surprised at the accuracy of ChatGPT to be honest. The expectations I had gone into this assignment with were low, and ChatGPT greatly surpassed them. Five out of seven quotes being directly from the book, with another quote still being written by Carroll (even if not in Alice in Wonderland) is fantastic.

Yet this brings the lesson that you have to check the answers of ChatGPT, because five out of seven answers mean that two were still wrong. ChatGPT is a good source to jump off of and get starting knowledge, but remember: it’s not where you stop.