Just in case technology wasn’t scary enough, researchers from MIT have developed a new AI-powered algorithm that’s perfect for all your Halloweekend needs. Meet Shelley (named after the creator of Frankenstein, of course). Occupation? Horror writer.
Designed as part of the MIT Nightmare Machine (yeah, that’s a real thing), Shelley draws inspiration from some of the creepiest parts of Reddit in order to pen her own completely original short stories, all of which are designed to scare the ever-loving crap out of you. According to the nightmarish team of researchers who sired her, Shelley works by taking “a bit of inspiration in the form of a random seed, or a short snippet of text, and starts creating stories emanating from her creepy creative mind.”
However, despite being an algorithm designed to literally create the stuff of nightmares, Shelley is anything but impersonable. In fact, she apparently loves Twitter. Her account tweets out a new story generated from the dark depths of her algorithm-powered mind every hour, but she’s designed to incorporate suggestions from other users. And she’s actually surprisingly good at it.
To join in, all you have to do is reply to her most recent post and end your tweet with the hashtag #yourturn. They have a whole list of rules and guidelines for how best to collaborate with Shelley, but it’s much easier to check it out at work:
