Northwestern University professor, Kristian Hammond, received more than $700,000 in federal stimulus money to develop software that tells jokes. Hammond says it’s serious work.
“Understanding what makes humor, what makes irony, what makes interesting juxtapositions, to understand what that means [then] actually create it,” said Hammond.
WLS-TV reports, “The material generated so far is not exactly killer standup material, and Hammond’s critics certainly aren’t laughing. Senator John McCain singled out Hammond’s project, calling it a ‘joke machine’ — one of many examples of wasteful spending.”
Hammond received the funding after he applied to the National Science Foundation, beating out dozens of other applicants.
“The same technology could be used to write scientific papers,” said Hammond. “We have nothing but anticipation that this will actually create more and more jobs.”
Hammond is exactly right. Stories like this keep Sad Hill News in business.
‘Joke Machine’ Output: “Hammond isn’t a complete idiot. Some pieces are missing.”
Read more: HERE
Hat tip: Weasel Zippers
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