Laughing with machines
Open Access
- 20 July 2021
- journal article
- Published by Estonian Literary Museum Scholarly Press in The European Journal of Humour Research
- Vol. 9 (2), 154-171
- https://doi.org/10.7592/ejhr2021.9.2.443
Abstract
This article will analyse the preconditions of sense of humour for artificial intelligence. Can artificial intelligence have a sense of humour? Is there a difference between human and machine laughter? Some machines already fulfil certain conditions which are associated with the human sense of humour: on the most superficial level machines appear to laugh and produce jokes, and they recognize sarcasm and punchlines, and they can evaluate funniness. In short, artificial intelligence is already able to recognize humour, and reacts to it accordingly. Furthermore, people laugh with humorous machines. However, it is still uncertain whether artificial intelligence can have a sense of humour or not, at least in comparison to a human sense of humour. To build bridges between AI research and philosophy of humour, this article proposes that there are (at least) five notable philosophical issues to be addressed if we are to accept that machines can have a (humanlike) sense of humour. These principles are: 1) worldview, 2) self-consciousness, 3) self-reflection, 4) self-criticism, and 5) losing control.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- Psychology of humorPublished by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,2008
- Communication and humorPublished by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,2008
- Computational humor: Beyond the pun?Published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH ,2008
- An Acoustic Play-Fight Signal in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Human CareAquatic Mammals, 2005
- Humor in hospice care: Who, where, and how much?American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, 2005
- “Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?Physiology & Behavior, 2003
- Rationality and intelligenceArtificial Intelligence, 1997
- Computational rules for generating punning riddlesHUMOR, 1997
- The practical requirements for making a conscious robotPhilosophical Transactions A, 1994
- I.—COMPUTING MACHINERY AND INTELLIGENCEMind, 1950