The AI Desk · Story 9

I asked ChatGPT to make a New Yorker style cartoon that's absolutely not funny.

I asked ChatGPT to make a New Yorker style cartoon that's absolutely not funny.
Image via r/ChatGPT

A Reddit user asked ChatGPT to generate a New Yorker-style cartoon that is intentionally unfunny, but the result was widely considered hilarious by the community. The post on r/ChatGPT received over 2,600 upvotes and hundreds of comments, with many users sharing their own AI-generated cartoon attempts.

This highlights the ongoing cultural conversation about AI's ability to understand and replicate human humor, particularly the subtle, dry style of The New Yorker cartoons. It also shows how users are actively testing the boundaries of AI creativity and finding unexpected results.

Key details

  • The original post on r/ChatGPT asked ChatGPT to create a New Yorker-style cartoon that is 'absolutely not funny.'
  • The post received 2,665 upvotes and 541 comments.
  • Top commenter u/RentSouth wrote 'mission failed. this is hilarious,' earning 1,246 upvotes.
  • Multiple users replied with their own AI-generated New Yorker-style cartoons, including images from u/Qorsair, u/Katzilla3, and u/FSNsaber.
  • User u/mindscapepix commented 'And yet, funnier than many!' with 517 upvotes.

Discussion angles

  • The AI's attempt to be unfunny was widely perceived as actually funny, suggesting a gap between AI's intended output and human interpretation.
  • Users debated whether the AI's failure to be unfunny indicates a lack of understanding of humor or an accidental success in mimicking New Yorker cartoon style.
  • Some commenters shared their own AI-generated cartoons, creating a collaborative thread of examples that were both intentionally and unintentionally humorous.
  • The discussion touched on whether AI can truly grasp the nuance of dry, intellectual humor that defines The New Yorker's cartoon tradition.

Top comments

The community overwhelmingly found the AI-generated cartoon hilarious, with the top comment declaring the mission a failure. Users engaged by sharing their own AI cartoon attempts and debating whether the result was a genuine miss or an accidental success in capturing New Yorker humor.

mission failed. this is hilarious.
u/Rent_South · 1,246 score
u/Qorsair · 583 score
And yet, funnier than many!
u/mindscapepix · 517 score
u/Katzilla3 · 483 score
u/FSNsaber · 439 score