Can AI Be Funny?
In the midst of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike (I wrote about this here), there's a topic that's becoming impossible to ignore: the role of AI in creative fields, specifically comedy writing. Amid a landscape defined by labor disputes, residuals from streaming media, and a push for fairness in employment terms, an unexpected player has entered the ring: artificial intelligence.
Copyright is a major concern with AI, but so is job replacement. Creativity is a very complicated subject, and suggesting that a machine today can’t be “creative” is as much a matter of definition as it is of subjectivity.
But humor? Everyone can agree on whether something is funny or not, right?
Right?
Let’s Ask the Question Anyway
ChatGPT is an incredible writing aid. If you’re a writer, you can have it read your work and instantly tell you if there are plot inconsistencies, literary devices that have been used so much in the past that they sound like another author, and so on. A list of thoughts can be organized into a proposed outline.
But can it create something novel from whole cloth? I think the answer is a clear “no” today.
Let’s ask a more narrow question today: can AI be funny?
Background of the Writer's Strike and the Role of AI
The ongoing 2023 Writers Guild of America strike has shaken up the landscape of American television and film production in ways that haven't been seen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Representing the interests of 11,500 screenwriters, the strike centers around key issues such as the diminishing residuals from streaming media, which have noticeably cut writers' average incomes compared to a decade ago.
But perhaps the most striking point of contention, and one that signals a paradigm shift in the world of creative writing, is the role of artificial intelligence, particularly programs like ChatGPT. While some fear that AI tools may soon replace human writers, the Guild insists that these technologies should serve as helpful assistants, aiding in research and fostering the development of creative ideas.
Can AI Be Funny: AI-Generated Comics
Enter the world of AI-generated comedy.
attempts to answer the very question we’re asking here, and here’s explaining his concept:Large language models aren’t exactly known for their humor, but they do occasionally get pretty close to comedy.
The daily captions are bound to be hit-and-miss. Some will be funny; some will suck.
I let AI take the wheel, resisting the urge to insert any of my own caption ideas.
So join the madness to see whether AI us capable of entertaining us on a daily basis.
If you’re intrigued by Daniel’s project, go check out more of his experiment and follow along if you’d like!
“I’m telling you, Bob, this is the best time to buy real estate in New York.”
Let's take a moment to digest this comic. Did it make you laugh? Why or why not?
AI, like ChatGPT, can process massive amounts of data, identify patterns, and generate content based on those patterns. But humor isn't just about patterns. It often relies on subtle nuances, unexpected twists, cultural references, or shared human experiences that AI may struggle to fully grasp.
However, AI can appear funny because the predictive nature of LLMs means that they can be deliberately set to be more random. Randomness can sometimes be funny to us.
How about this (rather obvious) punch line?
“So…are we going to talk about it or not?”
But does it truly land? Is the punchline satisfying, or does it feel slightly off?
When it comes to AI-generated humor, there seems to be a significant element of hit or miss. This inconsistency brings us to a deeper question: why is humor such a challenging concept for AI to master?
Humor: An Entirely Human Concept?
Whether something is funny or not, an inherently human construct, is intertwined with cultural nuances, shared experiences, and contextual understandings that are often hard to quantify. These complexities mean that humor often eludes even the most advanced artificial intelligence systems.
Comedy is more than a mere assembly of words. It plays with language and societal norms, often inverting expectations and exploiting our shared understandings of the world in surprising ways. A humorous statement in one cultural context might fall flat in another. Likewise, a joke that's hilarious today might have been incomprehensible a century ago or could lose its relevance in future.
Yet, this doesn't necessarily mean that AI can't be programmed to generate content that is “funny.” We've seen that ChatGPT, with its ability to generate random content, can occasionally strike comedic gold. But its humor tends to be more of a byproduct of its programming, rather than a genuine understanding of comedy, at least for now.
Collaborative Comedy?
Although AI alone may not be consistently funny, there's a different perspective to consider: AI as a partner in the creative process. With AI's potential for pattern recognition and data processing, it could serve as a tool to generate raw comedic material that a human could then refine and perfect.
Sure, lots of very good writers in Hollywood are going to be upset. That’s less than ideal! But massive societal change is tough in a lot of unexpected ways.
Most importantly, we should keep in mind that AI Won’t Replace Jobs… but in this case, writers who choose to use the tools at their disposal are very likely to be successful. They’ll be able to try out different subplot variations instantly and waste far less time reviewing for continuity mistakes.
This could be a powerful partnership – the computational power and vast data processing capabilities of AI doing much of the heavy lifting, paired with the creativity, cultural understanding, and fine-tuning abilities of a human writer.
This symbiotic relationship between AI and human creativity could lead to new forms of comedic expression, pushing the boundaries of what we find funny.
I’m going to leave you with one more comic that doesn’t quite land, but you can sort of see what the AI is “going for.”
“Dad, can we talk? Sure, son. Just pause your TV.”
For insightful commentary into a world where everyone stares at screens even though they’re in the same room at the same time, it sticks the landing; but by now this is a trope, not a novel observation. It also might make you groan a bit instead of laughing.
Maybe AI can handle dad jokes. That’s a pretty low New Balance to jump over.
While AI has not yet mastered the art of comedy writing, its potential as a tool to aid human writers is clear. Through their ability to process vast amounts of data and generate content based on identified patterns, AI tools like ChatGPT can take on the initial groundwork, allowing human writers to focus on the subtle nuances and fine-tuning that really make a joke land.
The ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America underscores the disruption that AI tools are bringing to the creative industry, but it's not all gloom. By embracing these tools, writers can elevate their craft, experiment with new forms of comedic expression, and hopefully, keep us all laughing well into the future.
So, can AI be funny? The answer isn't a simple yes or no. But one thing is certain: in the hands of a skilled human writer, it can definitely contribute to the comedy.
AI being funny is like Data from Star Trek trying to be funny. They both stumble on it once in a while.
A Doctoral candidate walks into a bar and says, "ouch, my nose!"
A second Doctoral candidate walks into the bar a couple days later, and say,"ouch, my forehead!"
A third Doctoral candidate walks up to the bar a couple days later, and says, "someone ought to tell those MAGA Reumpublicans that this is not what is meant by 'raising the bar' on education.
Top that, AI! ...But watch out for that bar.