In today’s column, I discuss the rising trend of scream tourism and explain how generative AI dovetails into this Halloween seasonal phenomenon. If you are perchance weak of heart or easily scared, no worries, nothing in here is going to suddenly leap out at you in a spooky fashion. I’ll make sure to cover the topic in an engaging but not shocking manner.
My ongoing Forbes.com column showcases how AI and especially generative AI can have impacts on all aspects of our daily lives (see the link here).
Let’s see what the deal is regarding scream tourism and generative AI.
Going Out Of Your Way To Visit Haunted Amusements
Most people likely stay local during the Halloween time frame and get their fun-filled scares by going to a nearby home that has been outfitted with creepy cobwebs and ghostly figures. Sometimes, a community pumpkin patch will construct a small scare structure or have a frightfully exciting gauntlet for kids to enjoy. Few people would give much thought to going any notable distance just for the celebration of Halloween-like purposes.
Well, times are changing.
A slew of amusement parks and large-scale attractions are nowadays all in the business of attracting tourists by decorating and celebrating for the Halloween period. Each year, this seems to increase by leaps and bounds. The start dates for these celebrations are now often launched in the first week or two of September. September of this year had a Friday the 13th (September 13, 2024), so many of the businesses opted to launch their scary events and eerie decorations on that illustrious day.
Those expensive amusement parks and attractions rely on more than just locals showing up. They want tourists to fly in, drive in, take the train, bus in, cruise ship in, or get there however possible. The nice thing too is that out-of-towners will often spend more at the Halloween decked-out locale than would locals. Once people get into a touristy mode, their wallets and pocketbooks open up.
What handy catchphrase can we give to the act of eager tourists who are willing to extensively travel to get their scares and thrills?
Scream tourism.
Boom, drop the mic.
Logistics Required To Get A Good Scare
One of the ways that generative AI dovetails into the scream tourism phenomenon is via figuring out the logistics for taking such a trip.
Of course, you can go the old-fashioned route of merely searching on the Internet in general for scare-fun attractions, plus allied or nearby hotels, transportation options, etc. The heavy lifting is fully on your shoulders. Best of luck.
Another possibility is conferring with a human travel agent. Believe it or not, travel agents do still exist. You see, in a bygone era, travel agents were as plentiful as gas stations on every corner. Not anymore. Anyway, they are still available. Please consider that option.
In addition, mull over the potential use of generative AI as an additional means to plan out your scream tourism activities.
The beauty of using generative AI is that it is highly interactive. You can tell the AI what you are interested in. The AI will try to narrow down options based on your stated requirements. Keep in mind that generative AI is devised to be interactive. If you look at some of the AI-presented options and don’t like what you see, just tell the AI to find something else. Back and forth you go, refining what the AI is uncovering for you.
Easy-peasy.
One big hangup is that some generative AI apps are not connected in real-time to the Internet to get fresh data and thus you won’t get current info. Watch out for this. Make sure to ask the AI what its latest available data is. If the date is not current, move on.
I don’t intend to be especially gloomy, but a second gotcha is that few of the generative AI apps will take the next steps of booking your discovered options. They aren’t set up to do that. The AI can show you the details including phone numbers to call and websites to book at. It won’t usually follow up and undertake those actions for you. You must take on the tedious chore. Sad face.
The good news is that this is rapidly changing, and we are quickly moving toward so-called agentic AI that can perform agent-like actions. For example, agentic AI might be available to do booking and confirm logistics for you (see my discussion about agentic AI at the link here).
Hang in there, the future is coming soon.
Generative AI As Your In-Your-Pocket Scare Attraction
I’ve got another way for generative AI to be your pal when it comes to Halloween fanfare.
You can use generative AI to be your interactive scare bro.
Here’s the deal.
You can easily tell generative AI that you want the AI to do Halloween-like discussions with you. For example, the AI could tell you a scary story. If you want a lighthearted version, just say so, or get a story that makes the hair stand on your head. It’s all up to you. Make sure to have the lights on and a friend nearby to reassure you that all is well.
A popular use of generative AI for this occasion is to have the AI create personalized content for kids. If the generative AI that you are using has an image-generating feature, you can describe what you want and include the child’s name in the produced image. For example, a favorite is to say that you want the child to be amongst fun-looking cartoonish ghosts and goblins, and the youngster is to be portrayed as a superhero, with their name vividly displayed. Nice stuff.
As always, there are some cautionary points to be aware of.
Be wary of letting a youngster directly use generative AI for Halloween purposes.
I say this because the AI might generate a story that is adult-oriented and not suitable for a child. The same goes for images that are produced. My repeated refrain is that generative AI is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you might get.
I’m not saying that kids should never use generative AI. Make sure that generative AI usage is either adult-supervised or that the AI has been notably limited for use by young users (see my discussion about warning labels for generative AI that would alert parents about being cautious of free willing use of generative AI by those that are underage, at the link here).
An added adverse twist about generative AI is that there is a chance that the AI will produce an AI hallucination. Please be aware that I disfavor the terminology because it implies that AI is sentient, which AI isn’t, and ergo the catchphrase tends to anthropomorphize AI. In any case, the major gist is that AI can generate false or bizarre content.
You never know when this might happen.
Imagine this daunting circumstance. You ask generative AI to create a Halloween-themed story that will be ultimately read to a bunch of kids having a sleepover. You print out the story and have it handy for the event. But you didn’t read it beforehand. You naturally assumed that it would be appropriate for the youngsters.
Woah, just imagine what untoward content might be in there. The next thing you know, you start to read it aloud, and suddenly and shockingly find yourself in great dismay that the story is inappropriate. This could be due to an AI hallucination being interwoven into the story.
Always make sure to double-check all generated content that comes out of AI.
More Possibilities Of Generative AI And Scream Tourism
There are more possibilities to consider.
You can tell generative AI to pretend to be a persona (see my coverage at the link here). Suppose that you want to interact with a pirate and go on a virtual journey into a haunted ship. The AI will simulate the kind of things that a pirate might say. The context of a haunted ship will be used by the AI to set the scene.
You can have children do this too, though I again suggest you be mindful if you do so.
Another intriguing angle is this. Assume that you go to a scream tourism attraction. While there, you are undoubtedly going to stand in long lines to get into the various rides and haunted houses. Any harried parent can tell you that those lengthy waits are dreadful when the kids are anxiously waiting to get in.
What can you do to make the time pass quickly?
You could have the kids interact with generative AI in the manner I’ve described above. Make the generative AI available on your smartphone and tell it to engage in Halloween stories or carry on a simulation associated especially with the ride or scare-fun attraction you are at.
One potential hitch is that most of today’s generative AI works only across the Internet so you’ll need to have an Internet connection, which might not be feasible while at an attraction. Generative AI will soon be available on a standalone basis for use on your smartphone and won’t need an Internet connection per se. Smiley face.
Final Thoughts Of A Spine-Tingling Nature
Some parents would be repulsed at the idea of using a smartphone as a means of keeping their kids entertained while in line at a haunted attraction. The thinking is that the kids ought to be paying attention to the world around them, rather than having their eyes on a screen. Seems like the concept of going on a scream tourism adventure ought to be about getting away from the daily obsession with screens.
Okay, I hear you and, in that case, you can still use generative AI as your assistant to keep the kids entertained. Tell generative AI that you want some Halloween jokes. Don’t have the AI say aloud the jokes. Instead, you punch up the jokes in your own folksy way and regale the kids with side-splitting pieces of spine-tingling humor. I’m sure the youngsters will think you are the best joke-teller ever.
It’s up to you to decide whether to reveal your super-secret source.
Is scream tourism your cup of tea?
Maybe yes, maybe no.
If your interest and budget allow for scream tourism, make sure to consider whether generative AI can be of use to you. As noted, there are limitations right now with how much generative AI can be your faithful but not frightful advisor on these matters. In the future, once we reach agentic AI, you will be hard-pressed to not use generative AI for this purpose. Until then, it’s entirely your call.
No need to be afraid of using generative AI. Just go for it. The AI isn’t going to reach out of the screen.
And make sure to have a wonderful Halloween, whatever you do.
