Enter The Horror House of AI – If You Dare!

Around the Digital Campfire

Everywhere you turn, there’s another story about AI.
Some sound like scientific breakthroughs. Others read like science fiction.
One day it’s the dawn of a new golden age of learning; the next, it’s the end of critical thinking as we know it.

From glowing optimism to existential dread, the tales we tell about AI often contradict each other — and yet they all capture something true about our hopes and fears. They’re not just technical forecasts; they’re modern campfire stories, told under the glow of our screens instead of flickering flames.

This October, as the nights grow longer, let’s focus on the scary ones — the AI ghost stories that linger in the back of our minds.

If AI Were a Halloween Costume…

Imagine you’re invited to a Halloween party and the theme is Scary AI.
What would you wear?

Would you be a zombie teacher, drained of creativity by an overreliance on ChatGPT?
Or a trickster chatbot, dazzling your audience with confident nonsense?
Maybe a mirror that reflects our biases, or the monster that refuses to obey its maker?

In the spirit of the season, let’s step into the Horror House of AI — a playful yet serious tour through the dark corners of our imagination, where each room reveals a different fear about what happens when humans and algorithms learn together.

Room 1: The Zombie – When Thinking Dies

Our first monster shuffles into view with vacant eyes and a glowing phone in hand.
This is the Zombie Student — or perhaps the Zombie Teacher — whose brain has been outsourced to the cloud.

Stories like AI Will Stupefy Our Students Unless We Do These Six Things and We Need to Chat, GPT  warn that overusing AI tools for writing, summarising, or brainstorming can atrophy our critical thinking muscles. Some compare it to bringing a forklift to lift the weights for you in the fitness.

In education and learning design, this is the fear of cognitive offloading: when convenience replaces curiosity.
If this is your deepest fear, your Halloween costume is easy — just add dark circles and a vacant stare.

Room 2: The Illusionist – When Truth Vanishes

In the next room, a magician grins under the spotlight. Cards flash, smoke rises — and suddenly, “facts” appear out of thin air.

Welcome to the world of AI hallucinations.
From Glue pizza and eat rocks to FDA’s AI makes up non-existent studies and OpenAI’s research on AI models deliberately lying is wild , the Illusionist shows how convincing machines can be when they make things up.

For educators, this raises the question: How do we teach truth when our tools lie?
To resist the Illusionist, we must teach students not just to admire the magic — but to see how the trick is done.

Room 3: The Cursed Mirror – When Bias Looks Like Truth

At first glance, the next room looks ordinary. You approach a mirror — and it smiles back, but not quite like you.

This is the Cursed Mirror, reflecting society’s biases back at us.
From the AI Bias Lawsuit Against Workday over The AI Mirror, the message is clear: AI doesn’t necessarily invent prejudice; it amplifies what’s already there.

For educators, the mirror warns us that algorithms grading essays or flagging “risk” students might reinforce inequalities under the guise of neutrality.

To face this monster, polish the mirror — don’t smash it. Examine your data, diversify your sources, and make bias visible before it becomes policy.

Room 4: The Possessed Teacher – When Identity Blurs

Now the temperature drops. A classroom flickers with the hum of projectors and digital voices.
On screen, an avatar delivers your lecture in your tone, with your slides, your phrasing — but it’s not you.

This is the Possessed Teacher, haunted by their own digital double.
Stories like When AI Makes You Question Your Identity and ChatGPT Will Start Guessing Your Age capture this deeper anxiety: if AI can mimic our expertise, what remains of our professional identity?

For educators and trainers, it’s not just about job loss — it’s about purpose.
The antidote? Reclaim what machines can’t fake: empathy, presence, and the spark of authentic connection. If AI is better at the answers, we need to get better at the questions.

Room 5: Frankenstein’s Monster – When Control Slips Away

Down in the basement of the Horror House, a heavy door creaks open. Inside: cables, screens, warning lights — and a creation that no longer obeys.

This is Frankenstein’s Monster, the system we built but can’t fully control.
From Albania’s AI Minister to Agentic Misalignment and tales of AI models that refuse shutdown commands, we’re confronting technologies that act with increasing autonomy.

Governance, transparency, and human oversight are the bolts that keep this monster grounded. Ignore them, and even well-intentioned L&D innovation can turn rogue.

Tools to Fight the Monsters

Don’t run away just yet — every monster has a weakness.
In our Horror House, there are tools to fight back:

• Nuance dispels illusions: teach learners to question, verify, and cross-check.
• Curiosity revives the zombie: use AI as a co-pilot, not a crutch.
• Transparency cracks the mirror’s curse: make data and decisions visible.
• Empathy and ethics exorcise the demon: remember that learning is a human act.
• Governance and dialogue keep Frankenstein in check: define clear boundaries and shared responsibility.
  
  

So, What Will You Dress Up As This Halloween?

We began with a question, and it’s worth returning to it now.
If you had to dress up as your deepest AI fear, who would you be — the zombie, the trickster, the mirror, the possessed teacher, the runaway machine… or a totally different monster of your own making?

Perhaps the costume you choose reveals more about your mindset than you think.
Facing these fears with humour and curiosity is the first step to disarming them.

If you’d like to explore these and many more stories — and discover tools to fight your own AI monsters — join us at The Horror House of AI – What Makes AI So Scary? during OEB (Online Educa Berlin) 2025 this December.

Step inside the Horror House.
Face the monsters.
Laugh a little.
Learn a lot.

And here’s a scary thought to leave you with:
Are these monsters imaginary — or are they already living among us? 👀 See you in Berlin… and Happy Halloween! 🎃

Written for OEB 2025 by Bert De Coutere.