Perceptions of AI engaging in human expression

Though humans should defer to the superior judgement of AI in an increasing number of domains, certain biases prevent us from doing so. Understanding when and why these biases occur is a central challenge for human-computer interaction. One proposed source of such bias is task subjectivity. We test this hypothesis by having both real and purported AI engage in one of the most subjective expressions possible: Humor. Across two experiments, we address the following: Will people rate jokes as less funny if they believe an AI created them? When asked to rate jokes and guess their likeliest source, participants evaluate jokes that they attribute to humans as the funniest and those to AI as the least funny. However, when these same jokes are explicitly framed as either human or AI-created, there is no such difference in ratings. Our findings demonstrate that user attitudes toward AI are more malleable than once thought—even when they (seemingly) attempt the most fundamental of human expressions.