Can AI ever actually be funny?

In the early days, having a bit of banter with AI was a novelty (‘you can get it to write in pirate lingo – HAHAHA’) but now that seems a bit old hat. As the tech has evolved though, it got me thinking: can AI be genuinely funny – as in, laugh-out-loud funny?

A BBC article last year explored how comedian Karen Hobbs tried performing a set written entirely by AI - though ‘entirely’ is doing some heavy lifting here, given AI is trained on existing online content (more on that in a bit). Fair to say the jokes produced weren’t exactly side-splitting. ChatGPT defaulted to writing in the voice of a male comedian, trotting out tired old misogynistic tropes about shopping-obsessed girlfriends and the like.

But that was a year ago - and in tech years (a bit like dog years), that’s basically seven. Has ChatGPT upped its LOL game since then?

Humour is, of course, subjective - hence why some people like Mrs Brown’s Boys. But a good yardstick is to take the coveted Funniest Jokes from the last ten Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and compare them to ten of ChatGPT’s finest efforts.

Let's put it to the test

Funniest Edinburgh Fringe Jokes 2014-2024

2024: "I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it.” ~ Mark Simmons

2023: "I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah." ~ Lorna Rose Treen

2022: "I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn't get pasta." ~ Masai Graham

2019: "I keep randomly shouting out 'broccoli' and 'cauliflower' - I think I might have florets." ~ Olaf Falafel

2018: "Working at the Jobcentre has to be a tense job - knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day." ~ Alan Rowe

2017: "I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change." ~ Ken Cheng

2016: "My dad suggested I register for a donor card; he is a man after my own heart" ~ Masai Graham

2015: "I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It's Hans free." ~ Darren Walsh

2014: "I decided to sell my Hoover... well it was just collecting dust." ~ Tim Vine.

2013: "I heard a rumour Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa." ~ Rob Auton

Ten funniest jokes/one-liners from ChatGPT

Prompt: Please give me 10 of your best jokes and/or one-liners

1. I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes. She gave me a hug.
2. I’m not saying I’m old, but I remember when emojis were called hieroglyphics.
3. My boss said, “Dress for the job you want.” Now I’m sitting in HR dressed as Batman.
4. I started a company selling land mines disguised as prayer mats. Prophets are going through the roof.
5. I used to play piano by ear, but now I use my hands – much easier.
6. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed spaces. For example, I’m going to the pub and I’m afraid it’ll be closed.
7. Parallel lines have so much in common. It’s a shame they’ll never meet.
8. I once dated a girl who was a baker. She left me for someone who was breader.
9. I asked the gym instructor if he could teach me to do the splits. He said, “How flexible are you?” I said, “I can’t do Tuesdays.”
10. I’m great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive and procrastinate all at once.

Some of these ain’t half bad. I’ve got to confess, I actually even tittered at a few.

This would suggest that AI has indeed become funnier…but when I probed ChatGPT about the origin of these jokes, it confessed they weren’t originals (shock horror!), rather they were 'tweaked' versions of existing jokes that had been rephrased to suit a particular tone or setting.

But this isn’t any great surprise. Artists from across the board (including the likes of Elton John who called AI scraping ‘theft’) are vehemently opposing the government's controversial AI bill, which would allow AI companies to train their models using copyrighted material. Backed by the House of Lords, who have consistently blocked the bill, artists want AI companies to disclose what copyrighted material they use to train their systems, which seems completely reasonable to me.

With this in mind, I wanted to try and push ChatGPT to conjure up altogether more ‘original’ jokes (or as close to original as they can be)…and this is where it all started to go a bit wrong for our robot comedian.

Take a look for yourself.

Ten *original* jokes/one-liners from ChatGPT

Prompt: Please give me 10 completely original jokes and/or one liners

1. I bought a calendar from a fortune teller. Every month just says “probably raining”.
2. My neighbour trimmed his hedge into the shape of his ex-wife. It’s petty, but well-pruned.
3. Tried speed dating last week. Spoke to more clocks than people.
4. I downloaded a mindfulness app. Now I spend 20 minutes a day being calmly aware of how little I’m doing with my life.
5. I asked Alexa to surprise me. She played the national anthem. I stood up. Alone.
6. My cousin’s vegan now. Says she misses cheese the way I miss ambition.
7. Bought a new kettle that connects to Wi-Fi. Because boiling water needs cutting-edge technology.
8. I went to a silent retreat to find myself. Turns out I’m boring without Wi-Fi.
9. The cat brings me dead mice. I pretend to be flattered. We're both trapped in this toxic relationship.
10. I once ghosted someone so thoroughly I now avoid mirrors in case I see myself.

I mean, I quite like the surrealness of number 9 but imagine trying these out at the Edinburgh Fringe? Depressing to see the well-worn ex-wife clichés in there too. Seems AI hasn’t just been scraping its data from the internet – it’s scraped right down to the bottom of the barrel.

Can AI ever be scary?

From one emotion to another, I wanted to have a quick look at AI’s ability to frighten us. Not in a dystopian ‘AI is stealing all the jobs!!’ manner, but rather, in a good old fashioned scary monster kind of way. As a life-long lover of the horror genre, I know a good monster when I see one. Of course, most horror fans will tell you that what you don’t see will always be more frightening than what you do see, but there are some notable exceptions to that rule. Think The Demogorgon from Stranger Things, The Pale Man from Pans Labyrinth or, as per one of my most triggering memories, Worzel Gummidge (80’s nightmares unlocked). All dreamt up from the greatest creative minds in film and TV.

Now let’s see what horrifying bogeyman OpenAI's image creator DALL·E can cook up for me.

Prompt: Create an original image of a terrifying monster that would likely appear in a leading horror film

Fair play to DALL·E – this is a pretty gruesome creature. Still not as scary as Worzel Gummidge in my opinion but if I found this chap lurking in my wardrobe, I’d be pretty cheesed off.

Side-splitting or no laughing matter?

There’s an unbreakable bond between humour and the human experience. AI can mimic jokes, rework punchlines and even surprise us with the occasional killer one-liner, but true wit comes from lived experience, timing and emotional nuance – things machines simply can’t grasp.

It’s a similar story with horror. AI can mash together creepy visuals or rehash familiar ghoulish monstrosities, but the most unsettling anti-heroes tap into deep-rooted human fears, portrayed in ways that catch us off guard or stay with us long after the credits roll.

At the heart of all this is a much bigger question: is it ever OK for artificial intelligence to recycle other people’s work – be it music, literature, comedy or art – without proper credit? It's certainly the hottest of topics right now. Artists, writers and performers are calling for transparency, arguing that their work shouldn’t be quietly scraped and repurposed in the name of ‘innovation’.

And really, who can blame them? If creativity is reduced to an algorithmic rejig of what's already out there, well…as a certain band once sang: that joke isn’t funny anymore.