Can artificial intelligence ever know what's funny?

During his 20 years as the New Yorker's cartoon editor, Bob Mankoff developed an interest in the creative potential of artificial intelligence. In 2005, he helped found the magazine's cartoon caption contest and his desk began receiving between 5,000 and 10,000 entries a week. Mankoff – who studied experimental psychology at university – worked with Microsoft, and Google's DeepMind, on projects that attempted to develop algorithms to distinguish between funny and unfunny submissions. For tech firms, developing machines with a sense of humour makes commercial sense. As electronic assistants and robots play an ever greater role in our lives, we'll want them to be good company.