Can AI have a sense of humor and understand an absurd situation, translating it graphically? This is the test conducted here, with some surprising results. While humor may not have been fully grasped, the AI’s attempts at responding have been rather amusing. We can observe how the unexpected, a source of surprise and humor, disrupts the AI, which seemingly tries to rationalize the situation by « fixing » and « normalizing » the initial intention.

Asking ChatGPT

First I ask ChatGPT to help me to create a prompt showing Santa Claus on his sleigh full of presents, but the reindeer are unable to move forward because there is no snow on the ground. It returned me an image instead of a prompt.

I wrote:

Me – Ok, but the joke is, there is no snow, so they can’t move

ChatGPT – Ah, I see! The humour is in emphasizing the lack of snow as the main obstacle. Here’s a refined version of the prompt for a more playful take:

(I love that answer)

New prompt: Santa Claus sitting on his sleigh filled with colourful presents, looking frustrated while scratching his head. The reindeer are standing idly, looking equally puzzled, as there’s no snow for the sleigh to slide on. The ground is dry and brown, with patches of grass instead of snow. The sky is overcast, but no snowflakes are falling. A light-hearted and humorous scene, emphasizing the unexpected problem caused by the lack of snow during Christmas.

The resulting image is pretty good.

I asked

Me – Can you describe your image as a prompt?

ChatGPT – Certainly! Here’s a description of the image as a prompt:

A humorous Christmas scene featuring Santa Claus sitting on a stationary sleigh overflowing with colourful, neatly wrapped presents. Santa looks frustrated, scratching his head, while his reindeer stand idly in front of the sleigh, appearing confused and unable to move. The ground is dry, brown, and dotted with sparse patches of grass, emphasizing the absence of snow. The sky is overcast and grey, creating a wintery atmosphere without any falling snow. The overall tone is light-hearted, highlighting the unexpected dilemma of a snowless Christmas.

Using the prompt

The initial prompt was:

« Santa Claus sitting on his sleigh filled with colourful presents, looking frustrated while scratching his head. The reindeer are standing idly, looking equally puzzled, as there’s no snow for the sleigh to slide on. The ground is dry and brown, with patches of grass instead of snow. The sky is overcast, but no snowflakes are falling. A light-hearted and humorous scene, emphasizing the unexpected problem caused by the lack of snow during Christmas.”

Tested in Krea (https://www.krea.ai/apps/image/flux) it returned an image that didn’t understand the context and humour.

Then the prompt is modified

“A humorous Christmas scene featuring Santa Claus sitting on a stationary sleigh overflowing with colorful, neatly wrapped presents. Santa looks frustrated, scratching his head, while his reindeer stand idly in front of the sleigh, appearing confused and unable to move. The ground is dry, brown, and dotted with sparse patches of grass, emphasizing the absence of snow. The sky is overcast and grey, creating a wintery atmosphere without any falling snow. The overall tone is light-hearted, highlighting the unexpected dilemma of a snowless Christmas.”

We shall not count the dereindeer’s legs….

Another variation

“A humorous Christmas scene featuring Santa Claus sitting on a stationary sleigh overflowing with colorful, neatly wrapped presents. Santa looks frustrated, scratching his head, while his reindeer stand idly in front of the sleigh, appearing confused and unable to move. The ground is dry, brown, and dotted with sparse patches of grass, emphasizing the absence of snow. The sky is overcast and grey, creating a wintery atmosphere without any falling snow. The overall tone is light-hearted, highlighting the unexpected dilemma of a snowless Christmas.”

Testing in Leonardo AI

Text to Video

Shot 1: An aerial view of a melting snowy landscape at sunset, revealing Santa Claus in his iconic red suit, standing next to his sleigh, which is stuck in a muddy, slushy terrain. The reindeer look tired and confused, unable to move forward. Santa looks disheartened, gazing at the ground, surrounded by patches of grass and puddles where snow used to be. The scene conveys an emotional atmosphere of loss and concern for the environment. »

Shot 2: »A close-up of Santa Claus’s face, with beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks, his expression a mix of sorrow and regret. His eyes are moist as he looks downward, and his iconic red hat is slightly askew, adding to the sense of disarray. The background is blurred, emphasizing his face and the deep emotional weight of the situation. »

Create a video with two different shots that are edited and linked

Shot 1:

« An aerial view of a melting snowy landscape at sunset, revealing Santa Claus in his iconic red suit, standing next to his sleigh, which is stuck in a muddy, slushy terrain. The reindeer look tired and confused, unable to move forward. Santa looks disheartened, gazing at the ground, surrounded by patches of grass and puddles where snow used to be. The scene conveys an emotional atmosphere of loss and concern for the environment. »

Shot 2:

« A close-up of Santa Claus’s face, with beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks, his expression a mix of sorrow and regret. His eyes are moist as he looks downward, and his iconic red hat is slightly askew, adding to the sense of disarray. The background is blurred, emphasizing his face and the deep emotional weight of the situation. »

Conclusion

In this exploration, the central question revolves around the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to comprehend and express humor, particularly in absurd situations, and translate that understanding into graphical representations. The test conducted has yielded some unexpected results, indicating that while AI might not have fully understood the humor, its attempts to respond have been entertaining. The element of surprise, which often underlies humor, appears to challenge the AI’s rational nature. When confronted with absurdity, AI seems to struggle with the unexpected and, in its effort to make sense of the situation, tends to « repair » or « normalize » the original intent. This response showcases the inherent tendency of AI to seek logical patterns and solutions, even in situations where human intuition might identify humor or irrationality. The results of the test reveal that AI’s understanding of humor may still be limited, as its interpretations and responses often miss the mark of what humans might find amusing. Nevertheless, these attempts offer an insight into the workings of AI and suggest that while it might not have a natural propensity for humor, it can produce comical results in its own way.

Merry Christmas