I asked Chat GPT for the best Halloween outfits for an Exeter student, and here’s what it said

Halloween is a monumental occasion on the average Exeter social calendar, with socials and nightclubs taking advantage of the spooky theme every year. However, coming up with a unique and iconic costume to impress all who enter Timepiece over the Halloweekend is no easy feat, so we’ve asked Chat GPT to help us all out and come up with the best outfits for an Exeter student if you’re looking for something to wear at all the events before the 31st. Disclaimer, the list does get more and more questionable, and I cannot defend some of the more bizarre choices.

1. A Harry Potter character

With J.K Rowling being a graduate of Exeter University, this comes as no surprise. In all honesty, I like this idea if you’re willing to go the extra mile. Forget Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I would love to see Dobby the house elf sipping a venom and getting loose on the dance floor.

 2. A pirate

Ay ay, an absolute classic, you cannot go wrong with a pirate costume, I know this from personal experience. I’m not sure that Primark’s finest fishnet tights and an Amazon Prime pirate hat are quite the historically accurate costume that Chat GPT alluded to in the mention of Exeter’s “maritime” past, but that’s all you really need. I hope to see plenty of swashbuckling pirates getting it very wrong this Halloween.

 3. A classic horror movie character

Whilst I struggled to see the relevance of a classic horror movie character to the Exeter scene (I think Chat GPT was grasping at straws by this point), this is a solid costume choice. Think along the lines of Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and the twins from The Shining. Why not do a group costume with your housemates of 80s horror characters? This is certainly a strong theme contender for me this year.

 4. A historical figure

Another rogue decision from Chat GPT, but I’m slightly less sympathetic to this one. The AI advises to “research famous historical figures associated with Exeter”, but unless you fancy rocking up to TP dressed as Baldwin the Archbishop of Canterbury from the 10th century, I don’t advise this one. But hey, who am I to judge?

 5. A punny costume

I’m just going to attach a couple of the suggestions for this costume. “You could dress up as a ‘study break’ by attaching a clock to your shirt, or go as a ‘smartie pants’ by covering your pants in smarties candies”. Yeah, I mean I love the creative effort that Chat GPT has gone to here, but if I see anybody walking around as a “smartie pants”, there will be some serious judgement. I see that it’s clever wordplay, but this is where I draw the line.

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