ChatGPT is a horror story in and of itself.
It is the bane of every current author’s existence. You will now find authors that recoil in fear at the thought of it. I am one of them. We spent a great deal of time writing.
This is this especially difficult for me because I have to use a special voice program and it gets many things wrong. My hands don't work very well. So, I have to rewrite what is written and it is very difficult for me to write long form now.
Therefore, it takes me a great deal of time to get anything written.
The fact that program is able to do it quickly and in a way that is easily able to fool people means that it is going to screw up a lot of people's lives. Especially when their livelihood comes from earning money from books that they write.
Having said that, you could look at Aliens and Starship Troopers and suggest that they have a similar story. However, they are quite different apart from surface issues.
You could also say that the boy in the pool that transports isn't the main idea of the story. Perhaps the main idea of the story is some secondary thing.
The secondary thing is really the main thing.
So, I think almost all of it is subjective aside from a direct rip. Some stories directly rip from others. Some songs too.
However, I think it's pretty obvious when that happens.
I appreciate the long reply.
RE: How original do stories need to be?