It might sound a bit morbid, but let’s face it — at some point, most of us have wondered: What would hell actually look like? A fiery abyss? Demonic figures with horns and pitchforks? Whatever your imagination conjures, it probably doesn’t come close to what artificial intelligence has envisioned.
A viral video posted by Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) on X (formerly Twitter) has sparked a wave of reactions online. Captioned simply “Asked AI to show ‘Hell’”, the AI-generated video offers a disturbingly surreal glimpse into a digital version of the underworld — and viewers are calling it terrifying.
The eerie black-and-white clip begins with countless hands reaching upward, grabbing at a human figure being dragged down. As the 18-second video unfolds, it cuts to a haunting, screaming face, which then morphs into a distorted, hand-covered visage. At one point, it even looks like a hand is emerging from the figure’s mouth — enough to send chills down your spine.
Naturally, users on X had plenty to say about the unsettling video.
One viewer quipped, “Many already experience this ‘hell’ every morning on public transit.”
This isn’t the first time AI-generated content has given us a disturbing taste of the apocalypse. Renowned AI researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky recently warned of the dangers of unchecked AI development. In an interview with The Guardian, he said:
Asked Al to show "Hell' pic.twitter.com/XxoHVE9HKu
— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) April 3, 2024
“If you put me against a wall and forced me to guess, I’d say our timeline is closer to five years than fifty. Maybe two years, maybe ten.”
Known for his controversial views, Yudkowsky has long sounded the alarm about the potential risks of advanced AI.
Meanwhile, in Denmark, researchers have developed an AI system with a different — but equally chilling — application. Named life2vec, the model was trained on the life data of over one million Danes and claims to predict an individual’s time of death with surprising accuracy.
And the dark AI content doesn’t stop there.
Over on TikTok, user @robotoverloards went viral for asking AI to generate images of the “last selfies ever taken” — snapshots imagined to be captured just seconds before a global catastrophe. The results were nothing short of terrifying.
One image shows a bleak, grey sky swirling above a vast body of water. A figure stands in the foreground, holding up a phone to their blood-covered face. Other frames depict blazing infernos amid flooded landscapes, with skeletal figures staring eerily into the lens.
One particularly astute viewer noticed something strange:
“Y’all saw how Earth was in the sky like the moon?” they wrote, adding to the unnerving atmosphere.
@robotoverloards/TikTok
As AI continues to push the limits of creativity — and human fear — one thing is clear: the lines between imagination and digital reality are becoming increasingly blurred.
