The Battle of the Assistants: Which Digital Assistant Tells the Funniest Jokes?

Summary

Brent Rose, a sci-fi writer and comedian, assembled a team of the most popular artificial intelligence (AI) assistants, including Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa, to test their humorous abilities. Brent had each digital assistant tell him their funniest jokes and handpicked the ones that got him the best laughter. He then performed the selected jokes to an audience at Chatterbox in Los Angeles. While the response was not as expected, Brent’s test helped shed light on the use of AI in natural language and humor.

Siri versus other digital assistants

Brent Rose tested each AI digital assistant’s joke skills by asking them to tell him a joke. Siri was considered the least funny, failing to make Brent or the audience laugh. On the other hand, the responses from Cortana, Google Assistant, and Alexa, although not wildly funny, drew some laughter from the audience.

AI companies’ attempts in making assistants funnier

AI companies behind digital assistants like Siri and Cortana have been experimenting with ways to make their software more humorous. Apple, for example, hired writers to develop jokes that Siri could tell customers, while Google employed screenwriters and comedians to improve Google Assistant’s humor. Amazon Alexa can also access an extensive range of joke libraries.

The stand-up comedy experiment

Brent handpicked the most humorous jokes from each AI assistant and tested them in a live stand-up comedy show. Unfortunately, the audience’s reaction to the selected jokes mostly ranged from chuckling to giggles, and no one had a big laugh.

Results and audience reactions

Alexa came in fourth place for its typically cheesy dad jokes with no real comedic timing. Siri rated last, again showing its lack of humor. The results showed a close tie between Google Assistant and Cortana for the top spot, eliciting the most laughter from the audience.

Conclusion

Humor is subjective, and it is challenging to teach AI assistants the finer aspects of comedy. While AI has come a long way, they fell short when it comes to comedic timing and delivery. Stand-up comedy requires a level of human emotional intelligence that AI doesn’t possess yet. However, it shouldn’t discourage further experimentation as technology continues to improve.