AI-generated meme captions deemed funnier than human ones

A new study shows that AI-generated meme captions are, on average, funnier than those made by humans. Researchers found that memes with AI captions scored higher in humor, creativity, and shareability. However, individual human-created memes could still stand out as exceptional. The research will be discussed at the 2025 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces. One expert, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick, noted that this suggests AI might have passed what he calls the "meme Turing Test." This test, proposed by Alan Turing in 1950, aims to see if people can tell the difference between AI and human-created content. Despite the strong results for AI, the study also highlights the importance of human creativity. The researchers suggest that while AI can produce engaging content, humans still excel at creating material that connects on a deeper emotional level. The research team, which included experts from universities in Sweden and Germany, conducted experiments comparing memes made by individuals, memes created through collaboration with AI, and memes generated solely by AI. They tested memes in three common categories: work, food, and sports. Results varied by category. Memes about work received higher ratings for humor and shareability compared to those about food or sports. This indicates that context plays a significant role in how effective humor is, whether it comes from humans or AI.