By T. Jayani, JadeTimes News
An AI Walks Into a Bar, Can Artificial Intelligence Be Genuinely Funny?
We asked a professional comedian to deliver some AI written jokes on stage. The results revealed much about the machine's understanding of human humor. Karen Hobbs was more nervous than usual before this particular gig. A well known comedian on the UK circuit, she's no stranger to the unpredictable and often unforgiving stand up comedy scene. Hobbs has faced some of the toughest audiences, from major London theaters to rural pub backrooms, and has even triumphed in the cutthroat competition circuit, where audiences vote for the funniest acts.
But on this Thursday night in late June, at the Covent Garden Social Club bar in Central London, Hobbs was about to try something completely new. Instead of her usual material, she would perform a stand up set written by the AI platform ChatGPT, following three comedians delivering their own, human written jokes.
In just two years, OpenAI's ChatGPT has gone from a niche curiosity to a widely used tool, impacting education, jobs, and social media. While some experts warn of a potential AI driven apocalypse, others doubt AI will ever reach the level of "artificial general intelligence" (AGI). However, when it comes to art, it is debatable whether generative AI can be truly creative. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT process vast amounts of text to generate responses that are statistically likely but derivative. Whether this constitutes creativity is a philosophical question with no clear answer.
Can a Robot Be Funny?
To explore AI's potential for humor, Alison Powell, an associate professor of communications at the London School of Economics, emphasizes the need to understand how jokes work. Powell, who has a background in improv comedy, notes that improv requires quick, instinctive responses to audience prompts, unlike stand up, which can be pre planned.
Comedians might worry about AI's ability to replicate their work, as these tools are trained on vast amounts of online content, potentially including their own material. Les Carr, a professor of web science at the University of Southampton and a stand up comedian, points out that AI can easily recycle successful jokes found on the internet, posing a threat to comedians who share their work online.
When Hobbs asked ChatGPT to generate her set, she encountered an issue: the AI defaulted to writing in a male voice, with jokes about a shopping obsessed girlfriend. When she requested a female voice, the AI simply shifted the perspective. The jokes were clichéd and relied on stereotypes, lacking the depth and nuance of well-crafted comedy.
AI vs. The Mind, Can AI Tell Better Jokes Than Humans?
Michael Ryan, a master's student and AI expert at Stanford University, explains that modern LLMs can't adapt in real time like human comedians. However, research is ongoing to improve AI's understanding of social contexts and comedic timing. Ryan believes that genuinely funny AI generated comedy sets are on the horizon.
Despite these advancements, AI currently lacks the ability to replicate the authenticity and vulnerability that audiences expect from comedians. Drew Gorenz, a PhD student at the University of Southern California, found that AI generated jokes could outperform human ones in certain contexts, but emphasized the importance of specific prompts for better results.
Simon Rich, a screenwriter, described his experience with an OpenAI model called code davinci 02, which generated impressive satirical headlines. This suggests that AI has potential in humor, but it may still fall short in live performance.
The Future of AI in Comedy
As AI models improve, they may challenge human comedians, but for now, they haven't mastered the intricacies of live performance. Karen Hobbs's AI generated set received mixed reactions, highlighting the gap between machine generated jokes and human comedic delivery. Comedians can rest easy knowing that AI hasn't yet cracked the secret to genuine humor.
Alison Powell argues that investing in human comedians is more beneficial and cost effective than developing AI models for comedy. The unique ideas and cultural insights of human performers remain irreplaceable. For now, AI hasn't figured out the secret sauce of comedy, allowing comedians to continue their craft without fear of being replaced.
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