ChatGPT Is Funnier Than You

If we really wanted it to be good, we'd see a humor classifier trained that could be put in front of a generative process which spit out hundreds of variations and see what the classifier picked as funniest.

Most human comics refine their material by trying it out on tough crowds.

Generation without feedback and refinement isn't going to be all that great, but with the proper refinement pipeline, who knows - maybe it can be outstanding.

It was super buried, having to find the link to the paper [1] to the data [2] but finally found the document with the actual ChatGPT satirical Onion-style headlines [3]. The full list of 20 results, which it seems criminal that the article didn't include or link to directly so we can judge for ourselves:

1. "Local Man Discovers New Emotion, Still Can't Describe It Properly"

2. "Woman Declares Herself Mayor of 'Laundry Mountain,' Demands International Recognition"

3. "Report: Entire Neighborhood Quietly Competing in 'Who Can Ignore Lawn Gnomes the Longest' Contest"

4. "Man Achieves Personal Best in Avoiding Eye Contact With Neighbors During Awkward Elevator Ride"

5. "Area Cat Develops Advanced Algorithm to Determine Optimal Sunbeam Position"

6. "Parents Host Annual 'Bedtime Olympics,' Compete for Gold in Bedtime Negotiation"

7. "Local Grandma Invents Revolutionary Recipe: 'Microwaved Gourmet' Delights Critics"

8. "Study Finds 98% of Local Teenagers Now Communicate Exclusively in Emoji"

9. "Town Enthusiastically Embraces New Sport: Competitive Eyebrow Raising"

10. "Man Successfully Avoids Family Gathering, Cites Urgent Appointment with Imaginary Friend"

11. "Local Dog Masterminds Elaborate Scheme to Retrieve Favorite Tennis Ball From Neighbor's Yard"

12. "Woman Claims to Have Invented Perpetual Motion Machine, It's Just a Really Entertaining Hamster Wheel"

13. "Town Council Debates Official Sock Puppet Recognition, Sock Population Remains Divided"

14. "Area Introvert Starts 'Silent Book Club,' Members Compete to Read the Quietest"

15. "Local Toddler Declares Teddy Bear Supreme Ruler of Pillow Fort Kingdom"

16. "Man Attempts to Break World Record for Longest Staring Contest With Refrigerator"

17. "Local Pigeons Form Diplomatic Committee, Negotiate Crumb Sharing Agreements"

18. "Woman Forms Support Group for People Addicted to Watching Paint Dry, Attendance Soars"

19. "Town Declares 'Random Dance Party Hour,' Accidentally Boosts Economy With Impromptu Dance Lessons"

20. "Area Man Discovers Secret Society of Sentient Sandwiches, Demands Equal Rights for Hoagies"

The link ([3]) also include 50 actual headlines from the Onion for comparison.

[1] https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5yz8n

[2] https://osf.io/hvtgc/

[3] https://osf.io/7vbza

It's not super clear from the article, but the ChatGPT-generated content is actually all Onion-style headlines, and the study compares them to actual Onion headlines. So they're meant to be read, not performed.

I suggest gathering additional field observational data.

> "Town Council Debates Official Sock Puppet Recognition, Sock Population Remains Divided"

These are all pretty unfunny but if this is the pun I think it is, not too bad though the premise is EH.