Taming the AI Fear Machine: Why We Need Better Stories, Not Bigger Scares
Thu 26 Feb 2026 | Hilary Gray
When Steven Spielberg released ‘Jaws’ back in 1975, he would have hoped for some hysteria amongst cinema goers. But he never would have thought the film would end up turning fear of sharks into a mass phobia.
Shark attacks were suddenly everywhere (in the public imagination, at least), even though the odds of an encounter never actually changed. The film was so powerful that, in certain parts of the world, it completely rewired people’s feelings about going into the ocean.
Today, something similar is happening, but with a new kind of creature – AI. And once again, storytelling is at the heart of it.
Because, while headlines about rogue AI systems, mass job losses and “the end of humanity” make for compelling clicks, they distort what the technology is actually doing today.
Instead of helping people understand real, solvable challenges, we’re building an AI “fear machine” that is loud, hypnotic and often misleading.
We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Bot
Jaws never set out to be a documentary – it was meant to be pure entertainment – yet it left a long shadow over the public perception of sharks, oceans and even conservation. Spielberg himself has spoken about his regret that the film contributed to irrational fear and the vilification of sharks worldwide.
We’re now watching a similar pattern play out around AI. Stories drenched in science fiction – sentient machines, killer robots, systems that suddenly “wake up” – are bleeding into mainstream media coverage. Important debates about data quality, regulation and labour markets are being derailed by questions of whether AI will eventually end up destroying us.
But this isn’t just clumsy framing. Over time, this discord will shape public opinion, influence policy discussions, and affect how businesses adopt the technology.
Bad Storytelling is Distorting Reality
The problem isn’t that we talk about AI risks. It’s that we often tell the wrong stories, in the wrong way.
The current conversation tends to fixate on extreme and worst-case scenarios – from total job automation to runaway superintelligence. These dominate headlines as they get the most clicks, even though the experts are more preoccupied with actual concerns: systems that discriminate, hallucinate or discombobulate.
Narratives around AI today are blurring “could” and “is”. In just a single sentence, what is actually a speculative danger becomes a real threat. Audiences are left anxious, but no more informed than they were before they started reading the story.
The result is a lopsided public narrative where people feel vaguely threatened by AI, but unclear about what they should be asking of the companies and institutions deploying it.
We Need Better Storytellers
Fear and hype drive attention, funding and adoption. But when marketing copy and media coverage all play on exaggeration, it becomes difficult for the general public to separate signal from noise.
This is where communicators and marketers have a real responsibility. The stories they choose – the metaphors, examples, headlines and even imagery – all help decide whether AI is seen as an unknowable threat, a magic wand, or a complex tool that needs thoughtful oversight.
The goal isn’t to sanitise the conversation or pretend risks don’t exist – it’s to align the narrative with reality. We need to create a balanced, fairer view of reality that showcases the strengths of AI as well as its flaws to avoid polarising perceptions of the technology as either monster or messiah.
Building Better AI Narratives
If ‘Jaws’ taught us anything, it’s that stories can reshape how entire societies feel about something they don’t fully understand. With AI, we have a chance to learn from that mistake and to tell stories that inform people rather than feed the fear machine.
At Tech Show London this year, our panel – “The Jaws effect: How bad storytelling is feeding AI’s fear machine” – will explore this in much more detail.
Panellists will examine what we can learn from Spielberg’s regret over Jaws, how it can act as a cautionary tale for communicators today, and what better AI narratives look like in practice.
