What a joke.
A new study claims ChatGPT can crack wise at an “equally funny or funnier than human-produced” level.
The recently published paper tested the computer-generated comedy of the artificial intelligence program to “shed light on how funny ChatGPT is to the general public,” the researchers wrote.
The language learning model (LLM) was prompted to write satirical headlines that might appear in the publication “The Onion.”
Separately, the hard drive humorist’s abilities were compared to human non-professional comedians, aka “laypeople.” They were asked “to respond to the same humor prompts” in an ad-lib style test similar to the party game “Quiplash.”
“In both studies, human participants rated the funniness of the human and A.I.-produced responses without being aware of their source,” according to the team.
“ChatGPT 3.5-produced jokes were rated as equally funny or funnier than human-produced jokes regardless of the comedic task and the expertise of the human comedy writer.”
To test its abilities, The Post asked ChatGPT 4o — the “newest and most advanced model” — a series of questions about its repertoire, including, “Are you funnier than most people?” — to which it responded: “I like to think I have a good sense of humor, but whether I’m funnier than most people is up to you to decide! I can certainly share some jokes if you’d like to test my comedic skills.”
After a series of requests for its best content, the app offered up these exclamatory eye-rollers:
Why don’t scientists trust atoms?
Because they literally make up everything!
Why did the scarecrow become a successful neurosurgeon?
Because he was outstanding in his field!
Why do biologists look forward to casual Fridays?
Because they’re allowed to wear genes to work!
When issued a request for the “funniest joke” it could offer, ChatGPT responded:
Alright, here’s one of my favorites:
Why don’t skeletons fight each other?
They don’t have the guts!
Sorry, ChatGPT: A set at Gotham Comedy Club is probably not in your future.
We’re not laughing with you — we’re laughing at you.
