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If AI did not already have a bad enough reputation, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are now teaching a machine how to be terrifying. The Nightmare Machine turns normal images of faces and familiar landmarks into darker versions of themselves. Members of the public are then being invited to vote for the scariest AI-generated faces. Doing so will "help our algorithm learn scariness", the scientists said. "Creating a visceral emotion, such as fear, remains one of the cornerstones of human creativity," writes the team.