Computational humor is a branch of

computational linguistics Computational linguistics is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field concerned with the computational modelling of natural language, as well as the study of appropriate computational approaches to linguistic questions. In general, comput ...

and artificial intelligence which uses

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

s in humor research. It is a relatively new area, with the first dedicated conference organized in 1996.

Joke generators

Pun generation

An approach to analysis of humor is classification of jokes. A further step is an attempt to generate jokes basing on the rules that underlie classification. Simple prototypes for computer pun generation were reported in the early 1990s, based on a natural language generator program,

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. Graeme Ritchie and Kim Binsted in their 1994 research paper described a computer program, JAPE, designed to generate question-answer-type puns from a general, i.e., non-humorous, lexicon. (The program name is an acronym for "Joke Analysis and Production Engine".) Some examples produced by JAPE are: :Q: What is the difference between leaves and a car? :A: One you brush and rake, the other you rush and brake. :Q: What do you call a strange market? :A: A bizarre bazaar. Since then the approach has been improved, and the latest report, dated 2007, describes the STANDUP joke generator, implemented in the Java programming language.Graeme Ritchie, Ruli Manurung, Helen Pain, Annalu Waller, Rolf Black, Dave O'Mara.
A practical application of computational humour
" In Cardoso, A. & Wiggins, G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 4th. International Joint Workshop on Computational Creativity, London, UK, 2007, pp. 91–98. The STANDUP generator was tested on children within the framework of analyzing its usability for language skills development for children with communication disabilities, e.g., because of cerebral palsy. (The project name is an acronym for "System To Augment Non-speakers' Dialog Using Puns" and an allusion to standup comedy.) Children responded to this "language playground" with enthusiasm, and showed marked improvement on certain types of language tests.

The two young people, who used the system over a ten-week period, regaled their peers, staff, family and neighbors with jokes such as: "What do you call a spicy missile? A hot shot!" Their joy and enthusiasm at entertaining others was inspirational.

Other

Stock and Strapparava
described a program to generate funny acronyms. "AskTheBrain" (2002

used clustering and bayesian analysis to associate concepts in a comical way.

Joke recognition

A statistical machine learning algorithm to detect whether a sentence contained a " That's what she said" double entendre was developed by Kiddon and Brun (2011). There is an open-source Python implementation of Kiddon & Brun's TWSS system. A program to recognize

knock-knock joke The knock-knock joke is a type of audience-participatory joke cycle, typically ending with a pun. Knock-knock jokes are primarily seen as children's jokes, though there are exceptions. The scenario is of a person knocking on the front door to a ...

s was reported by Taylor and Mazlack. This kind of research is important in analysis of human–computer interaction. An application of machine learning techniques for the distinguishing of joke texts from non-jokes was described by Mihalcea and Strapparava (2006). Takizawa ''et al.'' (1996) reported on a heuristic program for detecting puns in the Japanese language.

Applications

A possible application for the assistance in

language acquisition Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language (in other words, gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it), as well as to produce and use words and sentences to ...

is described in the section "Pun generation". Another envisioned use of joke generators is in cases of steady supply of jokes where quantity is more important than quality. Another obvious, yet remote, direction is automated joke appreciation. It is known that humans interact with computers in ways similar to interacting with other humans that may be described in terms of personality, politeness, flattery, and in-group favoritism. Therefore, the role of humor in human–computer interaction is being investigated. In particular, humor generation in user interface to ease communications with computers was suggested.Graeme Ritchie (2001)
Current Directions in Computer Humor
, '' Artificial Intelligence Review''. 16(2): pages 119–135M.P. Mulder, A. Nijholt, (2002) "Humour Research: State of the Art"
/ref> Craig McDonough implemented the Mnemonic Sentence Generator, which converts passwords into humorous sentences. Basing on the incongruity theory of humor, it is suggested that the resulting meaningless but funny sentences are easier to remember. For example, the password AjQA3Jtv is converted into "Arafat joined Quayle's Ant, while TARAR Jeopardized thurmond's vase".

Related research

John Allen Paulos is known for his interest in mathematical foundations of humor. His book ''Mathematics and Humor: A Study of the Logic of Humor'' demonstrates structures common to humor and formal sciences (mathematics, linguistics) and develops a mathematical model of jokes based on

catastrophe theory In mathematics, catastrophe theory is a branch of bifurcation theory in the study of dynamical systems; it is also a particular special case of more general singularity theory in geometry. Bifurcation theory studies and classifies phenomena cha ...

. Conversational systems which have been designed to take part in Turing test competitions generally have the ability to learn humorous anecdotes and jokes. Because many people regard humor as something particular to humans, its appearance in conversation can be quite useful in convincing a human interrogator that a hidden entity, which could be a machine or a human, is in fact a human.Shah, H. and Warwick, K., "Machine Humour: Examples from Turing Test Experiments",

AI & Society ''AI & Society'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer. The editor-in-chief is Karamjit S. Gill, Brighton University. ''AI & Society'' has been running since 1987. It covers all aspects of artificial intelligence a ...

, Vol.32, pp553-561, 2017.

References

{{reflist, 2 Artificial intelligence Computational linguistics Humor research Computational fields of study