Welcome to Codifying Humanity.
A new Neural series that analyzes the machine learning worlds attempts at creating human-level AI.
Stop me if youve heard this one.
A robot walks into a bar and the bartender takes its order.
The robot says: Ill have whatever my developer likes.
If youre not laughing right now its because the joke isnt funny.
And if you are laughing, its because the jokeisfunny.
Thats how jokes work.
Its also how people work.
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Each one promises a near-future where human creators are either displaced or forced to work in tandem with machines.
The common refrain is that AI isnt human-like yet, butit will be sooner than you think!
We see back-flipping robots doing parkour and deepfake face-swaps in our social media feeds everyday.
At least, until we start picking at the seams.
Prestidigitation
Here at Neural, we refer to most of what AI does as prestidigitation.
Thats because theres only a handful of things a typical deep learning system can actually do.
Much like a real-world magician, developers create incredible programs out of some fairly basic algorithmic foundations.
And its the same with AI.
Teslas computer vision systems are no more or less human-like thanNot Hotdogs.
They essentially perform the exact same function at different scales.
Its hard to explain the simplicity of a massively complex AI system to the average person.
Can an AI be funny?
Luckily for us, a former Microsoft intern named Nabil Hossain has already done all the groundwork for us.
Basically, Microsoft invented Mad Libs for AI to try and demonstrate that computers can be funny.
AI can be just as funny as you decide it is or isnt.
Which brings us right back to the joke that opened this article.
Is the author who wrote it funny?
What is funny?
Jokes can be reduced to formulas.
Just about anything can be reduced to a formula, but funny isnt a thing.
So, how do we make a computer spit out a joke?
The very first problem the Microsoft team ran into was data.
Who decides?
Arguably, nobody should get to decide what is and isnt objectively funny.
Because humor is subjective.
But whats the alternative?
Or that an AI could use that database to generatenewfunny headlines.
The bottom line:AI cant be funny.
Funny as interpreted by the recipient of a joke is subjective.
And funny as an intended construct requires intent.
Just like fashion, being funny is as complex as the people you surround yourself with.
And both the individual and public perception of whats humorous is constantly changing and evolving.
It would be hard to argue that humor isnt among them.
The Microsoft team didnt develop an AI that creates funny headlines.
But it isnt more human.
