Mysteries always leave us with great stories. They take on a life of their own as we struggle to make sense of the senseless, or the logic of the illogical. History is filled with stories of adventure with endings that perhaps capture the imagination more than if everything had gone to plan.

Maybe that’s the case with American aviator Amelia Earhart. Earhart was a pioneer and counted many firsts in her lifetime but she went missing on July 2nd 1937 while attempting the world’s first circumnavigation by a female pilot. To date the wreckage of her plane, and her remains, have not been found despite many searches. This has ultimately led to all manner of stories and speculation about her final resting place and what actually went wrong. But like most mysteries we’ll likely never know.

So, for today’s prompt-built map I wanted the 1937 route showing the stops. I wanted it in a mid-1900s style but because I know AI sometimes struggles a little with precise locations and labels I’m going to do this in two parts because route accuracy is paramount. Firstly, I gave ChatGPT a list of places for the stops (via a web site) and told it to create an accurate route map, which it did. Then I asked it to style the map it had created in a mid-century adventure map style. I also wanted to riff on a joke that my good friend Nathan Shephard tells that if only she hadn’t used a Robinson Projection she wouldn’t have fallen off the edge of the map. A lovely map projection flat-earth joke thrown into the mix!

Pretty decent results I think. Sure, we can be critical of the pointless north arrow compass rose but it adds to the aesthetic in this instance. Take it off if you want. I left it on. My decision.

Original Prompt (ChatGPT) Part 1
Could you make a map of the world using a Robinson projection that plots the route of the final flight of aviator Amelia Earhart. Please use the details at this web site to accurately position the stops she made along the route https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/MapsandPhotos/maps/worldflight.html

Original Prompt (ChatGPT) Part 2
Great! The route is accurate. Now, using that map as a basic structure I’d like you to re-style it to evoke the mid 1900s explorer style maps that you might see in an Indiana Jones movie. The route and stops Earhart made must remain accurate in terms of the actual route she took, and also the location on the map where you position the stops (I will be checking them again!) I’d also like to include a geographical joke and have it appear that Earhart literally dropped off the edge of the world, to be revealed as a flat earther, which is why the wreckage of her plane has never been found.