Robots are making their way into the world of entertainment, with one robot taking center stage in the stand-up comedy industry. Meet Jon, a robot comedian designed to tickle the human funny bone.
Naomi Fitter, an assistant professor of robotics at Oregon State University, developed Jon to study how robots can aid humans in health contexts. However, Fitter decided to give Jon a shot at the limelight in 2018 by writing him a stand-up comedy routine and sending him on tour in Los Angeles.
With artificial intelligence, Jon determines where to jump next in his human-written script. He can even tell when a joke falls flat and makes a quip about it. Fitter explains that Jon can also poke fun at the audience, trying to guess why they didn’t appreciate the joke.
Fitter’s experiment with Jon provided promising results. When Jon tried to save a joke that wasn’t doing well, the audience’s reaction improved. Fitter believes this finding is a step towards robots being able to improve human engagement through humor.
The potential of robots to make us laugh expands beyond the comedy industry. Future robots in healthcare or education sectors could use humor to make therapies and learning more enjoyable. Robots could, one day, even evaluate human reactions and adjust their delivery tactics to different preferences.
While we are a long way from seeing robots replace human comedians, the work done by Fitter and Jon shows how robots can enhance human experiences in unexpected ways. It is promising to see technology that can bring humor into people’s lives, making the future a little brighter.
