Robots are increasingly being developed to think and act like humans. But one common human quality that has been difficult for engineers to recreate in machines is humor. Most robots are powered by artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning technology. Some have performed better than humans in tests designed to measure machine intelligence. For example, we have reported on experiments involving robots competing against humans in a reading test and in a live debate. Computer scientists have also hoped to give robots technical skills to help them recognize, process and react to humor. But these attempts have mostly failed. AI experts say that in many cases, attempts to make robots understand humor end up producing funny results, but not in the way they were supposed to.
Title: Why Robot Humor Mostly Falls Flat
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/f7e38872-14d4-478c-9fc9-c16968e62210_hq.wav' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Why Robot Humor Mostly Falls Flat' data-article-id='3770'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='7146'>Robots are increasingly being developed to think and act like humans.</span> <span data-start-time='7146' data-end-time='17583'>But one common human quality that has been difficult for engineers to recreate in machines is humor.</span> <span data-start-time='17583' data-end-time='28354'>Most robots are powered by artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning technology.</span> <span data-start-time='28354' data-end-time='37375'>Some have performed better than humans in tests designed to measure machine intelligence.</span> <span data-start-time='37375' data-end-time='50333'>For example, we have reported on experiments involving robots competing against humans in a reading test and in a live debate.</span> <span data-start-time='50333' data-end-time='63167'>Computer scientists have also hoped to give robots technical skills to help them recognize, process and react to humor.</span> <span data-start-time='63167' data-end-time='67271'>But these attempts have mostly failed.</span> <span data-start-time='67271' data-end-time='82083'>AI experts say that in many cases, attempts to make robots understand humor end up producing funny results, but not in the way they were supposed to.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/281420A7-FE86-44BE-8C23-1B9B1A0AAF4E_w1023_r1_s.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=12652 data-hint-location='7146' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/what_does_common_mean.wav'>What does common mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='occurring, found, or done often'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/valuable.wav'><span>valuable</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/nonexistent.wav'><span>nonexistent</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/a_rare_occurance.wav'><span>a rare occurance</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/occurring_found_or_done_often.wav'><span>occurring, found, or done often</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=12653 data-hint-location='63167' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/but_these_attempts_have_mostly_what.wav'>But these attempts have mostly what?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='failed'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/failed.wav'><span>failed</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/succeeded.wav'><span>succeeded</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/taken_a_long_time.wav'><span>taken a long time</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/been_forgotten.wav'><span>been forgotten</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=12654 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/robots_are_increasingly_being_developed_to_think_and_act_like__blank_.wav'>Robots are increasingly being developed to think and act like <span class='blank'>humans</span>.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='humans'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/insects.wav'><span>insects</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/humans.wav'><span>humans</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/moose.wav'><span>moose</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/3257/dolphins.wav'><span>dolphins</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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