LLMs are good at summarization, classification, and categorization. But they will not and cannot come up with something new or unique. As a result, they don’t write interesting fiction. They are painfully bad at poetry and song lyrics. And, as we’ll see, they’re not good at writing jokes.
It would be interesting to compare and grade different LLMs on their ability to produce fortune good cookie sayings. By comparison, GPT-4o yields the following to your first prompt of "Give me five humorous fortune cookies." Of course one's humor-mileage is likely to have some variability...
Here are five humorous fortune cookies for you:
"The fortune you seek is in another cookie."
"You will soon receive a compliment… on your parking skills."
"Help! I'm being held hostage in a fortune cookie factory."
"You will find true love... in a mirror."
"You will be hungry again in one hour."
Enjoy the laughs!
The first five fortune cookie messages are funny because they play with expectations, subvert traditional fortune cookie tropes, and add a touch of absurdity or self-awareness. Here’s a breakdown:
"The fortune you seek is in another cookie."
Why it’s funny: This plays on the typical expectation that a fortune cookie will give you the insight or prediction you’re looking for. Instead, it humorously suggests that you need to look elsewhere, leading to an amusing sense of futility.
"You will soon receive a compliment… on your parking skills."
Why it’s funny: It sets up the expectation of a grand or meaningful compliment but delivers something trivial and oddly specific instead. The anticlimax makes it amusing.
"Help! I'm being held hostage in a fortune cookie factory."
Why it’s funny: This one breaks the fourth wall, as if the fortune cookie itself is sentient and in trouble, adding an element of surprise and absurdity.
"You will find true love... in a mirror."
Why it’s funny: It plays on the expectation of a romantic or heartwarming prediction, but instead, it humorously suggests self-love or vanity, making the fortune both clever and light-hearted.
"You will be hungry again in one hour."
Why it’s funny: This one pokes fun at the fact that Chinese food, or really any meal, often leaves people feeling hungry again shortly after eating. It’s relatable and delivers a chuckle because it’s true in a mundane yet unexpected way.
Each of these fortunes uses a twist, subversion, or self-referential humor to create an amusing effect, making them memorable and entertaining.
Thanks Michal. I’ve had some offline discussions along this line. I think that some of my original ones and some of yours have promise as a starting point. But IMO it takes a human comic writer to finish the job, even with a one or two sentence joke like this.
I was expecting something different, something I could use in everyday work, not a set of bad jokes. I suggest that you change your approach; we don't need this kind of humor.
For those that don't know, Wayne has been a coworker, business partner, client, and friend for nearly my entire career. I mentioned him in this blog post. https://enterprisespectator.substack.com/p/what-i-learned-at-smith-tool-abouthtml. I checked with him about this comment, and as I suspected, he said he was joking and he loved this post.
It would be interesting to compare and grade different LLMs on their ability to produce fortune good cookie sayings. By comparison, GPT-4o yields the following to your first prompt of "Give me five humorous fortune cookies." Of course one's humor-mileage is likely to have some variability...
Here are five humorous fortune cookies for you:
"The fortune you seek is in another cookie."
"You will soon receive a compliment… on your parking skills."
"Help! I'm being held hostage in a fortune cookie factory."
"You will find true love... in a mirror."
"You will be hungry again in one hour."
Enjoy the laughs!
The first five fortune cookie messages are funny because they play with expectations, subvert traditional fortune cookie tropes, and add a touch of absurdity or self-awareness. Here’s a breakdown:
"The fortune you seek is in another cookie."
Why it’s funny: This plays on the typical expectation that a fortune cookie will give you the insight or prediction you’re looking for. Instead, it humorously suggests that you need to look elsewhere, leading to an amusing sense of futility.
"You will soon receive a compliment… on your parking skills."
Why it’s funny: It sets up the expectation of a grand or meaningful compliment but delivers something trivial and oddly specific instead. The anticlimax makes it amusing.
"Help! I'm being held hostage in a fortune cookie factory."
Why it’s funny: This one breaks the fourth wall, as if the fortune cookie itself is sentient and in trouble, adding an element of surprise and absurdity.
"You will find true love... in a mirror."
Why it’s funny: It plays on the expectation of a romantic or heartwarming prediction, but instead, it humorously suggests self-love or vanity, making the fortune both clever and light-hearted.
"You will be hungry again in one hour."
Why it’s funny: This one pokes fun at the fact that Chinese food, or really any meal, often leaves people feeling hungry again shortly after eating. It’s relatable and delivers a chuckle because it’s true in a mundane yet unexpected way.
Each of these fortunes uses a twist, subversion, or self-referential humor to create an amusing effect, making them memorable and entertaining.
Thanks Michal. I’ve had some offline discussions along this line. I think that some of my original ones and some of yours have promise as a starting point. But IMO it takes a human comic writer to finish the job, even with a one or two sentence joke like this.
I was expecting something different, something I could use in everyday work, not a set of bad jokes. I suggest that you change your approach; we don't need this kind of humor.
For those that don't know, Wayne has been a coworker, business partner, client, and friend for nearly my entire career. I mentioned him in this blog post. https://enterprisespectator.substack.com/p/what-i-learned-at-smith-tool-abouthtml. I checked with him about this comment, and as I suspected, he said he was joking and he loved this post.