LOL! Microsoft is teaching comedy to computers

In a new research project, Microsoft attempts to teach comedic values to computers. Using the New Yorker’s cartoon contest as fodder, the researchers came up with an algorithm to pick the funniest captions from thousands of reader submissions.

Microsoft isn’t just doing this for fun. The ability for a computer to recognize humor could be important for programs like Skype Translator, which uses machine learning to help people converse across languages.

Down the road, Microsoft hopes it could offer artificial intelligence with a real sense of humor, one that could understand your punch lines and sarcasm.

Comedy, after all, is something that continues to be invented and transformed. It’s unclear if our robot overlords will be able to carry on the tradition.