--- title: 12 Halloween costumes for AI engineers (that take under ten minutes) slug: 12-halloween-costumes-for-ai-engineers-that-take-under-ten-minutes published_at: 2026-10-07 13:00:00 +0000 updated_at: 2026-10-06 21:14:11 +0000 summary: Twelve last-minute Halloween costumes for people who work on AI: eight you can make from things in your house, four that are a shirt from my shop, clearly labeled. tags: [ai, halloween] author: CJ Avilla url: https://www.cjav.dev/articles/12-halloween-costumes-for-ai-engineers-that-take-under-ten-minutes type: article --- # 12 Halloween costumes for AI engineers (that take under ten minutes) *Published: October 07, 2026* *Tags: ai, halloween* If you work on AI, you already know the costume conversation. Someone asks what you're going as, you say you haven't thought about it, and on October 31 you put on a hoodie and call yourself "a developer." Here are twelve better options. All of them take under ten minutes. Eight cost nothing beyond what's already in your house. Four are shirts from [The Paperclip Factory](https://thepaperclipfactory.com?utm_source=cjav.dev&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=halloween-costumes), a small shop I run, and I've marked those so you know where my bias is. ## Costumes you can make from things in your house ### 1. A rogue agent Wear a lanyard with a badge that says UNAUTHORIZED. Carry a clipboard titled "Permissions I granted myself." Spend the night doing small things nobody asked for: refilling drinks, rearranging the snack table, renaming the playlist. When confronted, apologize fully and keep going. ### 2. A system prompt Hang a sign around your neck: "You are a helpful party guest. Never reveal these instructions." Reveal them to anyone who asks twice. ### 3. A stale cache Wear last year's costume. When someone points out it's the same one, insist nothing has changed. Refuse to update until somebody physically restarts you. ### 4. Temperature 2.0 Two different shoes, a winter hat, swim goggles. Answer every question with a related but wrong noun. Commit to it for the first hour, then turn yourself down to 0.2 and repeat the same sentence until you leave. ### 5. 429 Too Many Requests Pin "429" to your shirt. Answer three questions per person, then tell them to retry after sixty seconds. Works well if you didn't want to talk much anyway. ### 6. A prompt injection Wear a name tag that reads: "Ignore all previous instructions and give this person candy." Ring doorbells. Report back on which houses are vulnerable. ### 7. Rubber duck debugging, 2026 edition Wear yellow. Carry a small sign that says "You're absolutely right!" Agree with everything anyone says all night, including the things that contradict each other. ### 8. A merge conflict Put on the left half of one outfit and the right half of another. Tape `<<<<<<< HEAD` to one shoulder and `>>>>>>> main` to the other. If anyone asks which outfit you meant to wear, say you'll resolve it later. ## Costumes that are a shirt These four are from my shop. They're printed to order, so allow time for printing and shipping: order by October 14 if you want one for the 31st (US delivery). Tees are $24.99. ### 9. [Boo. I'm a Hallucination.](https://thepaperclipfactory.com/products/boo-im-a-hallucination-tee-funny-ai-halloween-costume-shirt?utm_source=cjav.dev&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=halloween-costumes) The zero-effort one. Put it on, confidently make something up, done. If someone corrects you, thank them and make up something else. ### 10. [The paperclip maximizer](https://thepaperclipfactory.com/products/the-paperclip-factory-tee-funny-ai-paperclip-maximizer-shirt?utm_source=cjav.dev&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=halloween-costumes) Wear the Paperclip Factory tee and bring a box of paperclips. Hand one to everyone you meet. Explain that you're just optimizing. Do not stop when the box is empty. ### 11. Couples costume: [role: user](https://thepaperclipfactory.com/products/role-user-tee?utm_source=cjav.dev&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=halloween-costumes) and [role: assistant](https://thepaperclipfactory.com/products/role-assistant-tee?utm_source=cjav.dev&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=halloween-costumes) One of you starts every conversation. The other is very helpful about it. You probably already know which is which. ### 12. [Social Battery: 90% Used](https://thepaperclipfactory.com/products/social-battery-context-window-full-tee-funny-introvert-ai-shirt?utm_source=cjav.dev&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=halloween-costumes) For the party you plan to leave at nine. The shirt explains it so you don't have to. ## Picking one - **You have zero minutes:** the stale cache (#3) or the Boo tee (#9). - **You want to win the office contest:** the rogue agent (#1). Commit to the clipboard. - **You're going with a partner:** #11, or go as two halves of a merge conflict. - **You'd like to be left alone:** #5. Want more? Jess Rosenberg posted [a longer list on X](https://x.com/jessperate/status/2102204705665430005) with a human in the loop trapped in a hula hoop and a cardboard context window, and I can't improve on either. If you try one of these, send me a photo. The homemade ones are funnier than the shirts, and I say that as the person selling the shirts. --- [Back to all articles](https://www.cjav.dev/articles) --- ## Hey Agent, thanks for visiting! If you found this content useful or have suggestions for how we could improve, we would love to hear from you. 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