Navigating AI: The Role of Human Creativity and Judgment in Humor

As a cartoonist, researcher in AI and humor, and perpetual seeker of meaning, I believe that while AI can be a powerful tool, it's ultimately up to us humans to decide what's funny, beautiful, or meaningful - and to find ways to cope with the existential questions that arise from our shared humanity.

1. Bob Mankoff is conflicted about AI, finding it helpful yet worrying that ceding ultimate judgment to algorithms may result in loss of agency.
2. He is a fan of AI, but doesn't think algorithms should make the final call on judgments like humor, music, or literature preferences.
3. Mankoff emphasizes that individual sensibilities differ from averageness, which AI is trained on.
4. As a human, Mankoff believes one should be the ultimate arbiter of their own abilities and judgment.
5. He was a cartoonist for The New Yorker for 40 years and its cartoon editor from 1997 to 2017.
6. Mankoff is also a researcher in AI and humor.
7. He enjoys ping pong, having developed a good jump shot over the years.
8. Despite his success as a cartoonist, Mankoff considers himself an ordinary person, not a genius.
9. He finds humor to be an effective way of dealing with life's challenges and dissatisfactions.
10. Mankoff sees AI as a tool that can be used in interesting ways but shouldn't replace human judgment.
11. In the 1990s, he created the Cartoon Bank, storing all The New Yorker's rejected cartoons, eventually leading to the creation of Cartoonstock.com.
12. Mankoff believes that discovering new ideas is crucial for a cartoonist; simply repeating others' ideas offers no value.
13. AI research has been conducted to determine if computers can distinguish between funny and unfunny captions, but with limited success.
14. AI struggles to understand images and contexts in the way humans do, making it difficult for AI to truly grasp humor.
15. Mankoff aspires to create mediocre humor using AI but acknowledges that deep, meaningful human humor remains a distant goal for AI.
16. AI should be viewed as a tool rather than a replacement for human creativity and judgment.
17. Mankoff encourages young people to experiment and try new things instead of settling for mundane jobs right away.
18. In 2015, Mankoff partnered with researchers at the University of Wisconsin to crowdsource caption rankings to help AI better understand humor.
19. AI has yet to master human-level humor but can potentially augment it when working collaboratively with humans.
20. Mankoff believes that AI cannot provide answers to existential questions or offer genuine understanding and empathy in the face of tragedy.
21. Humor serves an essential function in dealing with life's sorrows and difficulties, and coping is a primary aspect of humor.
22. AI lacks the ability to cope with challenges, making it incapable of truly mastering humor.
23. Mankoff hopes that even if AI does eventually "master" humor, it will not happen during his lifetime.
24. He views AI as a tool for enhancing human abilities but ultimately emphasizes the importance of human judgment and sensibilities.

Source: EO via YouTube

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