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AI Is Funny - a Generative Joke Model

Posted by timothy on from the funny-is-a-strong-word-for-it dept.

RemyBR writes "Can computers tell a good joke? Is comedy just a matter of statistics or is there something only a human can bring to creating a joke? A joke generator created at the University of Edinburgh (PDF) suggests that AI can be funny. Some AI generated jokes: 'I like my relationships like I like my source, open,' 'I like my coffee like I like my war, cold,' 'I like my boys like I like my sectors, bad.'"

13 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Al? by gbjbaanb · · Score: 4, Funny

    Am I the only one who read the headline and thought of Al Gore?

    ob. joke.. I like my coffee like my men - strong and black.

    1. Re:Al? by Dr.+Sheldon+Cooper · · Score: 5, Funny

      Coffee is like a woman.

      Hot and sweet at first, then increasingly cold and bitter.

      --
      Bazinga.
    2. Re:Al? by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Funny

      I like my women like I like my coffee...inanimate.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    3. Re:Al? by jxander · · Score: 5, Funny

      with a spoon in them?

      --
      This signature is false.
  2. website! by Xicor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    give us a website with access to this joke maker! not just a journal article

  3. "AI-generated" is an overstatement by Typical+Slashdotter · · Score: 5, Informative

    Reading the article, they have a (human-created) statistical model for the specific words people will find funny in this one, exact type of joke. The only thing the "AI" is doing is analyzing word frequencies against this model. I suggest calling these "statistically-generated" jokes, or similar.

  4. Women by SJHillman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like my women like I like my AI joke generator. Inaccessible to most of the interested geeks.

  5. That's what she said by barlevg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The fascinating thing to me was that the funniest jokes it managed to come up with had a definite misogynistic streak. Is it because misogyny is inherently amusing, or because sexist jokes are low-hanging fruit? Link to more coverage of the same story.

  6. Re:Manually Generated by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Slashdot would be more like:

    I like my slashdot like I like my cat. Hairy.
    I like my slashdot like I like my cat. Hairy.
    I like my slashdot like I like my cat. Hairy.
    [dup...]

    With the occasional interspersed 3 page rant about something nobody can make sense of

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  7. Re:Manually Generated by rudy_wayne · · Score: 4, Funny

    Slashdot would be more like:

    I like my slashdot like I like my cat. Hairy.
    I like my slashdot like I like my cat. Hairy.
    I like my slashdot like I like my cat. Hairy.
    [dup...]

    With the occasional interspersed 3 page rant about HOSTS files

    fixed that for you

  8. The Essence of Humor by tinkerton · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Usually people mix up humor and powerful humor. So they think of all the ingredients that make it work. The best example of humor is then the one that makes you laugh more.
    But here's another angle: Just think of humor as having a humor part and a booster that makes you laugh more. The humor part is just the perception switch. It can be pretty mild. But add the naughtiness, the meanness , the embarassment and they provide a boost to the humor.

    Taken that way, the AI examples in the topic article are really touching the essence of humor.

  9. Schubert's 8th by Alsee · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I like my jokes like I like my symphonies

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  10. Re:Manually Generated by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 4, Funny

    I like my coffee like I like my slashdot. Filtered.

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.