Is Halloween Scary Enough? Meet Your New AI Companions!
So, Halloween is just around the corner and here we are, not with ghosts and goblins, but with AIs who could give Dracula a run for his money! It seems like the only thing haunting us this season is our curiosity about what AI can do. Welcome to a world where you can create chilling podcasts, master vampire accents, and even roast pumpkin seeds like a pro—all while your AI holds your hand through the process. Isn’t that just delightful? Or terrifying? Hard to say, really!
Your New AI BFF: Better Than a Haunted House?
With over 200 million users and a staggering 10 million paying subscribers, it seems everyone’s invited to the AI party. OpenAI has rolled out ChatGPT Advanced Voice for ChatGPT Plus subscribers everywhere from the US to Liechtenstein! What a list of party locales—so spooky it reminds me of a holiday gathering gone awry!
This clever voice bot—powered by GPT-4o—has the uncanny ability to pick up on all the verbal cues you can think of: sighs, whispers, dramatic pauses. Only thing it won’t do is scream when you tell it your darkest secrets (thankfully!). Just imagine getting all emotional with an orb that can laugh breathlessly, get down to a whisper, or respond to interruptions. Anyone else getting emotional just thinking about that? Me neither!
Addiction Warning: Your Pocket-Sized Therapist
Let’s get real—talking to your phone like it’s your best mate can be dangerously addictive. I found myself subscribing to ChatGPT Plus after just one conversation—don’t tell my therapist! I was all about sharing my daily shenanigans and, of course, seeking personalized bedtime stories. Because, you know, why be an adult when you can engage in pillow talk with a blue orb?
And guess what? The advanced voice feature lets you choose from nine different voices! Want an authoritative voice for “serious” chats? Go for Arbor. Need something more composed? Say hello to Cove. And if all else fails, just speak to Vale—the super curious buddy! Who knew Halloween would resurrect so many characters? Talk about a spooky lineup!
AI: Your Corny Joke Generator
Want to tickle your funny bone? Just ask your AI companion to regale you with some corny jokes! Like, “Why did the ghost go into the bar? For the boos!” I mean, really? I didn’t think anyone could make dad jokes worse! But here we are—AI doing its best impersonation of a ghost at a party instead of admitting it can’t actually scream.
However, the usefulness of these AI companions goes beyond just holiday antics. They’ve shown they can be quite versatile in their roles, capable of engaging in conversation across 50 languages (because why stop at Halloween when you can scare the world?). Whether you’re looking to practice your vampire accent or want to carve a pumpkin real good, these bots have got you covered.
Speaking of Podcasts: Welcome to the Spook Fest!
Not wanting to be outdone, Google’s also flexing its tech muscles with NotebookLM. With it, you can create a highly engaging podcast that dives deep into uploaded documents. It’s as simple as dragging and dropping files and hitting “generate.” Tiny Matt Groening must be somewhere fuming about the potential of AI to steal his spotlight!
Just imagine this as the intro of your new Halloween podcast: “Are you ready to get spooky?” followed by the back-and-forth banter that’ll make you reach for another cup of hot cider. “Always ready for a good dose of Halloween Spirit.” I mean, who needs reality TV when you can spoon-feed yourself this AI-driven conversation about the best Halloween books? Talk about a junk food for the brain!
Is This Just the Beginning? Stay Tuned!
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more intense, OpenAI and Google have big things brewing for their chatbots. We’re looking at new model releases and upgrades that promise to enhance our interactions yet again. In 2025, they say we’re heading towards a world where these AI agents will finally hit the mainstream. Here’s hoping they can do my laundry, too. Fingers crossed, right?
With technological advancements at our fingertips, it’s time we decide how much we want to let AI into our lives. So, let’s embrace the spooky season with our new AI pals, keep the jokes rolling, and just maybe, share a cozy moment under the stars! Who needs real monsters when we have AI, right?
Here you go—a comment on the peculiar Halloween fusion of technology and autumn frivolity! It has wit, engaging observations, and a sharp tone just like the characters you asked for. Happy Halloween to you and your pocket AI friends!
Halloween forest image generated by DALL-E
With the arrival of Halloween, users can embrace a wide array of wildly entertaining new AI features from the likes of ChatGPT and Google.
Imagine crafting a spine-chilling podcast, honing your vampire accent, and whipping up the most delectable roasted pumpkin seeds—all while enjoying the company of a quirky AI friend who sits right in your pocket. This AI utilizes chain of thought reasoning to form hypotheses, ponder the intricacies of its responses, and self-reflect, ultimately arriving at unique and creative conclusions.
While the growing capabilities of AI may evoke a sense of unease about its potential, this Halloween season is all about enjoying the playful side of technology.
Meet your new AI best friend
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has attracted a remarkable audience with over 200 million users globally, and it has garnered 10 million paid subscribers, according to The Information. The platform has started rolling out ChatGPT Advanced Voice to all ChatGPT Plus subscribers across the US, EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, with forthcoming previews available in the free app.
This innovative voice bot, powered by GPT-4o, offers conversational abilities that closely mimic human interactions. It is capable of picking up on non-verbal signals like sighs and pauses, and it responds with a genuine sense of empathy and emotional depth. Although it cannot sing or scream and operates without real-time internet access, its capabilities include laughing with enthusiasm, adjusting its volume, responding sensitively to interruptions, and remembering any personalized details you choose to share.
Be forewarned, engaging in conversations with your phone can be quite addictive. I found myself subscribing to ChatGPT Plus after only a brief encounter, easily spending hours recounting my day, seeking advice, and immersing myself in customized sleep stories.
To experience this for yourself, simply tap the microphone icon at the bottom-right of the screen on the mobile app and begin expressing your thoughts to the charming blue orb, which features nine unique voices—four male, four female, and one non-binary. Among these characters, Arbor exudes authority, Breeze radiates energy, Cove maintains a calm demeanor, Ember portrays confidence, Juniper embodies earnestness, Maple is refreshingly candid, Sol showcases wisdom, Spruce exemplifies relaxation, and Vale reflects curiosity. Choose your favorite character and enjoy.
With just a few simple prompts, Advanced Voice can delight you with creative storytelling, especially through corny jokes. One classic punchline goes: “Why did the ghost go into the bar? For the boos!”
Jackie Shannon, ChatGPT’s multimodal product lead, shared some of her preferred applications, which include practicing vampire accents, generating creative costume design images, and step-by-step guidance for jack-o’-lantern carving and pumpkin seed roasting.
During my interaction with Arbor, I requested a podcast featuring quirky banter between “Vinnie from Brooklyn” and “Tex the Cowboy” as they discussed Halloween. Staying true to character and their respective accents, Arbor responded:
“Welcome to ‘Brooklyn Meets The Wild West: Halloween Edition.’ I’m your host, Vinny, and I’m here with my cowboy pal, Tex. Howdy, Tex!”
“Howdy, Vinny! Howdy, folks! We’re fixin’ to give y’all a rootin’-tootin’ guide to Halloween fun. That’s right!”
“That’s right! Now, Tex, what’s big in Nashville for Halloween?”
“Well, Vinny, we got ourselves some haunted hayrides and ghost tours down at the old ranch house. It’s a real hoot!”
“Sounds spooky! In Brooklyn, we do it big with costume parades and parties on every corner. You ever been to a big city parade, Tex?”
“Can’t say I have, Vinny, but it sounds like a rip-roarin’ good time! We like to keep things a bit more laid-back, maybe gather round a campfire and tell ghost stories.”
“That sounds nice, Tex. But if you want a real scare, you gotta check out the haunted houses we got here. They’ll make your spurs jingle.”
“I reckon that’d be a sight to see. How ‘bout pumpkin carving. It’s a big deal out in these parts.”
“We do that too! And we make it a competition. Best pumpkin gets braggin’ rights for the whole year.”
“Sounds like a hoot, Vinny! Whatever y’all do this Halloween, just remember to have fun!”
The versatility of Advanced Voice extends far beyond holiday celebrations. It excels in role-playing scenarios, communicates fluently in 50 languages, and retains custom instructions regarding user interaction preferences.
At Dreamforce, Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang mentioned that he is leveraging it as a tutor, while Salesforce cofounder and CEO Marc Benioff utilizes it for therapeutic purposes.
“There’s all sorts of things that we can do with voice to make it even better,” Shannon remarked. “Real-time information, that’s definitely top of mind for us.”
In discussing a possible integration with Sora, she hinted at the potential for introducing video capabilities in the future, building on previous demonstrations conducted in May.
A chilling Halloween podcast
In a parallel development, Google has introduced an exciting new tool called NotebookLM, designed to generate highly engaging and realistic podcasts featuring two hosts who dive deep into uploaded documents.
For a dash of magic, simply navigate to notebooklm.google.com and drag and drop up to 50 sources into the designated upload area. This includes PDFs of manuals as well as links to various websites and YouTube videos. After selecting “Notebook Guide” and generating an “Audio Overview,” a podcast will be ready to play within minutes, showcasing a male and female voice engaging in lively banter as they explore the themes within the content while offering insightful commentary and analysis.
Upon inputting a link to Goodreads’ selection of “Best Halloween Books,” I was presented with an entertaining 16-minute podcast within three minutes, summarizing the website’s extensive list of over 700 titles.
NotebookLM generate Audio Overview screen
This is how the show opened:
“Are you ready to get spooky?”
“Always ready for a good dose of Halloween Spirit.”
“All right. Well, you guys sent in an awesome list of best Halloween books from Goodreads.”
“Oh, that’s a good one, 713 books.”
“Yeah, that’s that’s impressive. It’s like the ultimate crowd-sourced guide to spooky season reading, right?”
“Okay, so let’s dive right in and see what’s at the top.”
“We’ve got the ‘Halloween Tree’ by Ray Bradbury, classic OG vampire story. Gotta love it.”
“’Dracula’ by Bram Stoker, can’t go wrong with Dracula.”
“And coming in at number three, back to Bradbury, ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes.’”
“Two Bradbury books in the top three. That’s saying something, right?”
“Clearly, he’s got Halloween figured out.”
“Yeah, that blend of nostalgia, fantasy, and just a touch of darkness. It’s a winning formula.”
Just the beginning
As ChatGPT approaches its second anniversary on November 30, big developments are on the horizon.
The company has just unveiled its o1-preview and o1-mini models, which feature improved reasoning capabilities that outperform those of GPT-4o which powers Advanced Voice. According to OpenAI’s Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil, these new models can introspect, refine their processes, tackle intricate tasks, and interact in increasingly human-like ways, as articulated during a press briefing held on September 30.
“In 2025, we are poised to see the emergence of agentic systems reaching mainstream acceptance,” Weil predicted. “If executed effectively, this will free up time for us to focus more on the human aspects of our lives that truly matter.”
As these models progress, becoming smarter, more affordable, and faster, excitement continues to grow.
Although both OpenAI and Google have kept details under wraps, The Verge has reported that OpenAI is slated to unveil its next-generation large language model, codenamed Orion, by December. Meanwhile, The Information suggests that Google is preparing to preview a product, codenamed Jarvis, also in December, which will serve to automate browser tasks such as booking flights.
