A recent study by researchers at the University of Southern California found that artificial intelligence can generate jokes that are funnier than those created by humans. The study involved 105 human participants who were asked to provide their funniest responses to various prompts, such as interpreting acronyms, completing fill-in-the-blank tasks, and “roasting” someone. The same prompts were given to ChatGPT, an AI language model, which generated 20 different responses to each task.
A group of 200 human judges then rated the responses on a scale of 0 (not funny at all) to 6 (very funny). The results showed that 69.5 percent of the time, the judges found ChatGPT’s responses to be more amusing than those crafted by humans. In the roast task, AI outperformed humans by a significant 87 percent, while in the acronym challenge, AI was deemed funnier 73 percent of the time.
AI comedy outperforms human wit
Lead researcher Drew Gorenz explained, “Since ChatGPT can’t feel emotions itself but tells novel jokes better than the average human, these studies provide evidence that you don’t need to feel the emotions of appreciating a good joke to tell a really good one yourself.
This study highlights the rapidly growing capabilities of AI in fields traditionally dominated by human creativity. It suggests a future where AI might play an integral role in creative industries.
However, Gorenz also noted that stand-up comedy jokes are less funny when presented in text format, as delivery is a key part of humor production. He added, “I don’t think it’s able to create a John Mulaney-level joke.”
The study comes when entertainment professionals, including comedians, are concerned about how AI could reshape their jobs. In January, the estate of George Carlin sued a media company for allegedly using artificial intelligence to recreate the late standup comic’s style and material.
As AI continues to evolve, it remains to be seen how it will impact the creative industries and the jobs of those working in them.
Cameron is a highly regarded contributor in the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. His articles delve into the theoretical underpinnings of AI, the practical applications of machine learning across industries, ethical considerations of autonomous systems, and the societal impacts of these disruptive technologies.
