• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Despite a $45 million net worth, Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar still works tough, 16-hour days—he repeats this mantra when he's overwhelmed

2

A $1,000 loan kept MacKenzie Scott in college—now the billionaire philanthropist is giving away her $37 billion fortune to pay it forward

3

Venezuela abandoning the bolivar and adopting the U.S. dollar would be the biggest currency switch since the advent of the euro, Hanke says

1

Despite a $45 million net worth, Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar still works tough, 16-hour days—he repeats this mantra when he's overwhelmed

2

A $1,000 loan kept MacKenzie Scott in college—now the billionaire philanthropist is giving away her $37 billion fortune to pay it forward

3

Venezuela abandoning the bolivar and adopting the U.S. dollar would be the biggest currency switch since the advent of the euro, Hanke says
AI

MIT Researchers Bring a Horror Fiction-Writing Robot Named Shelley to Life

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 30, 2017, 12:05 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

With its increasingly humanlike design, artificial intelligence gives many people the creeps—though usually not intentionally. But a new robot named “Shelley,” released to the public just in time for Halloween, was created specifically to terrify.

According to its Twitter page, the bot is “the world’s first collaborative AI horror writer.” Shelley—named after Frankenstein author Mary Shelley—is the brainchild of Pınar Yanardağ, a postdoctoral associate who works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, and was created in collaboration with research scientist Manuel Cebrian and associate professor Iyad Rahwan, reports Turkish news site Daily Sabah.

Like most AI bots, Shelley “learns” by being fed data. In this case, the dataset is Reddit’s r/nosleep forum, where amateur authors share their original horror stories. Together, these writers have produced about 700 megabytes of horror over the past decade—much more than actually exists in the genre, reports San Francisco-based blog SFGate. “If you look at all the literature by Lovecraft or Stephen King or Edgar Allan Poe, it would be just a few megabytes,” Cebrian tells the blog. “We would still not have enough data.”

Shelley (@shelley_ai) tweets an opening line to a collaborative horror story every hour. Other Twitter users can then continue the story with another line ending in the hashtag #yourturn. An example:

🆕 I went under the basement door and locked it. I was imagining it and then I felt the claws of something brush against my ankles. 1/2

— Shelley (@shelley_ai) October 30, 2017

I instantly froze in complete horror at the realization that my nightmare had become reality. There was a beast in my house.

— Serge Cruz (@ElSergeCruz) October 30, 2017

I could hear it breathing from behind me. I couldn't turn to see the ghastly creature I had created & abandoned all those years ago.

— Goddess Heathen (@GoddessHeathen) October 30, 2017

The bot follows a similar experiment from the same MIT team called the “Nightmare Machine,” which uses AI to create horror imagery.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in


Most Popular

Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

    Latest in


    Most Popular

    © 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
    FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.