Jerry Seinfeld suggests AI is only making us dumber

Artificial intelligence has progressed rapidly even since we first started covering it. But one thing we’ve found it can’t replicate is humor — at least not yet. Just take a look at that awful George Carlin story that used the comedian’s mannerisms, patterns and style to generate a “standup special.” Or the constant stream of a mock-Seinfeld episode that has been running for over two years but has yet to truly nail the show? Speaking of Jerry Seinfeld, what’s the deal with his take on AI?

As you can imagine, Jerry Seinfeld has his thoughts on just what AI has achieved and the inadvertent statement it has made on humanity as a whole — hey, it’s at least more relevant than his Pop-Tart routine. Appearing on The Tonight Show, Seinfeld said of AI, “Let’s be honest. Most of the intelligence we’ve encountered in our life: pretty artificial, right? All we had was real intelligence, beginning of mankind, right? Didn’t work.” He added, “We were dumb. Still dumb. So we kept thinking until we could create a fake version of it so dumb people would seem smart. And then we thought, ‘Well maybe that wasn’t the smart thing, ‘cause what if the fake brain gets smarter than the real brain?’ We would look even dumber!”

So where does that leave us — you know, human beings — and AI, according to Jerry Seinfeld? “If I got this right: we’re smart enough to invent AI, dumb enough to need it and so stupid we can’t figure out if we did the right thing. We don’t know!” Whether any of this is going to turn out to be the “right thing” remains to be seen but it sure has generated a lot of conversation in the entertainment industry.

As mentioned, Seinfeld has been the target of AI with the Twitch series Nothing, Forever, which has been running more or less nonstop for over two years now, although it did hit a snag and suspension after a transphobic joke hit the stream, demonstrating how unhinged AI can be without proper regulation.

Where do you see AI going in terms of comedy? Can it be used as a tool or is it not capable?