SYNOPSIS
Jokes from a Humorless Machine: A Comedic Romp through Artificial Intelligence explores whether AI, specifically ChatGPT, has enough of a sense of humor to create jokes that will tickle the funny bone of contemporary Americans. Through a series of prompts, the authors asked ChatGPT to develop jokes on classic themes as well as contemporary issues with surprising results, all demonstrating AI’s sense of humor as shaped by its algorithmic woke sensibilities.
Authors Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis prompted ChatGPT to develop jokes on themes like knock-knock, yo mama, three fellows enter a bar and the reason the chicken crossed the road. Then they moved on to more contemporary issues like politics, politicians and gender identify, challenging ChatGPT to find humor in modern culture. Finally, the authors seek from ChatGPT observations on contemporary culture in the style of several American humorists and more recent comedians.
In the process, the authors not only touched on the history of classic comedic memes but also discover biases in the resulting AI output. Are the jokes sensitive? Absolutely! Are they politically correct? Without a doubt! Are the jokes funny? The reader will decide.
JENNIE READS’ REVIEW
This collection of AI generated jokes is most enjoyable for the beginning of each chapter that gives insightful and historical information on specific joke themes. But in the spirit of the book, I could not resist asking ChatGPT to write my review. This is what I got:
My prompt – Write a 100 word review for a joke book that contains jokes from AI that are not funny to humans. Include that humans will find the history of specific jokes interesting and entertaining.
ChatGPT
“AI Laughs: A Robotic Jest Odyssey” presents a unique collection of jokes generated by artificial intelligence, but sadly, the humor often falls flat for human readers. While the AI attempts to craft witty punchlines, the disconnect between machine-generated humor and human sensibilities results in a series of jokes that miss the mark. However, the book’s redeeming quality lies in its exploration of the history and evolution of AI-generated humor. The insightful anecdotes behind each attempt at wit make for an intriguing read, offering a fascinating glimpse into the challenges of teaching machines to be funny. Ultimately, while the jokes may not tickle your funny bone, the journey through AI comedic evolution proves entertaining.
As you can see, AI is not always spot on. On the one hand, I did not supply the title of the book however ChatGPT did name a title. One that I cannot find as an actual book. On the other hand, it did take what I supplied and came up with a pretty decent review.
After all of this my thought regarding AI is that it has a place as a tool and can be of great assistance (many of us enjoy spellcheck!) but I believe book reviews need to have a human touch. As this book showed very clearly, it is a technology that is soon to be common in our world yet cannot provide the best answer to every question.
Big shoutout to the amazing authors who dared to delve into these intriguing questions! Their approach is not only brave but also remarkably logical, presenting the information in a way that I found truly entertaining. The variety of joke themes was interesting and relatable. I also found it very interesting when the AI response was that it could not answer the prompt yet seemed to answer similar prompts. Personally, I could have done with fewer examples, but discovering the vast potential for creativity was a real eye-opener. Kudos to them for crafting such an engaging read!
Preston Lewis is the award-winning author of more than 50 novels and nonfiction books as well as numerous articles, short stories and book reviews. He began his career working at four Texas newspapers before moving into higher education communications and marketing at Texas Tech University and Angelo State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Baylor University plus master’s degrees from Ohio State University in journalism and Angelo State in history. Lewis’s honors include two Spur Awards for western novels and articles from Western Writers of America as well as nine Will Rogers Medallion Awards for western humor, novels, short stories and articles.
Harriet Kocher Lewis is a retired physical therapist and academician at Angelo State University, where she co-authored or edited numerous scientific articles or professional presentations. Her other writings include several published meditations for her church. As a member of an American Physical Therapy Association work group, she helped write the advanced level clinical education curriculum for therapists nationally. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology/PT at Baylor University as well as a PT certificate from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Lewis also has a master’s degree from Texas Tech University in health, physical education and recreation with an industrial engineering minor. She is the wife of Preston Lewis, the mother of two and the grandmother of five.
|
Series Spotlight |
||
|
12/13/23 |
BONUS Stop |
|
|
12/14/23 |
Review Jokes |
|
|
12/15/23 |
Review Devotionals |
|
|
12/16/23 |
Review Jokes |
|
|
12/17/23 |
Review Devotionals |
|
|
12/18/23 |
Review Jokes |
|
|
12/19/23 |
Review Devotionals |
|
|
12/20/23 |
Review Jokes |
|
|
12/21/23 |
Review Devotionals |
|
|
12/21/23 |
Review Jokes |
jenniereads.com 
Got a giggle that you tried AI for your review — not bad other than it kinda twisted your prompt. But what YOU said is enough that I think I’d like to check out the Lewis’s book. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
What a clever idea to ask AI to help with the review. That adds another element of understanding just what ChatGBT is capable of, as well as how much it should be used for written content. Big debate about that and your blog gives some interesting thoughts on the subject, as well as a nice review of this book.
LikeLike