With April 1 almost here, a computer researcher wanted to see if an AI could generate some knee-slapping April Fools' Day pranks. Social distancing is still in effect so Janelle Shane tasked the popular language modeling software GPT-3 to come up with gags people could play on themselves. One version of the neural net suggested sawing your mattress in half or standing in line for a movie for 30 minutes and then just walking away. Another suggested '[creating] a secret language that only you and your cat can understand.' 'Take a bunch of jellybeans,' it offered as an alternative, 'put them in a Ziplock bag and tie the bag around your neck.'

A scientist has taught various artificial intelligence learning algorithms how to flirt, resulting in peculiar responses. Janelle Shane, a research scientist from Colorado, trained four versions of the GPT-3 artificial intelligence – DaVinci, Curie, Babbage, and Ada - to generate pick-up lines. The way that neural networks (which are networks similar to the connections in the human brain) such as this'learn' things is by matching patterns in speech and language. This is how they create content that seems similar to that a normal human but without any understanding of the texts' meaning. GPT-3 has previously been used to design websites, write stories and has capably disguised itself as a human on the internet.

Quarantine has made a lot of us rusty in the flirting department, but your weak game is nothing compared to the cringeworthy pickup lines generated by an artificial intelligence. Research scientist Janelle Shane recently tested how the world's largest language modeling software, called GPT-3, would handle something as nuanced as flirting. Shane tasked different versions of the algorithm to come up with their best pickup lines, but the results would hardly make anyone weak in the knees. 'I will briefly summarize the plot of Back to the Future II for you,' offered another. An algorithm tasked with coming up with sexy pick-up lines had less than romantic results: 'I will briefly summarize the plot of'Back to the Future II' for you,' read one ice-breaker Shane, an optics research scientist at Boulder Nonlinear Systems, likes to tinker with what she calls'AI weirdness,' experiments in machine-learning that often have hilarious results.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner -- and if you want to maintain the interest of a woman on Tinder, a funny chat-up line is the way to go, scientists have revealed. US researchers tested out various online chat-up lines on 237 young, heterosexual adults -- finding that humour was a better opening gambit than compliments. In fact, they found that men who used funny introductions were seen as more attractive to women, who rated them as more intelligent, kind and trustworthy. Even if some of the lines were a little cheesy, they found that women still responded to them better than bland, unimaginative greetings like'Hi, how are you?' Men, in contrast, were found to overwhelmingly base their evaluations of prospective dates on how attractive they found the woman's profile. The team noted that, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic closing bars and clubs around the world, singles have surged to apps like Tinder for their dating needs.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. While the coronavirus pandemic has hindered a fair amount of in-person dates, Tinder users have kept on swiping, according to the app's newly released "Year in Swipe 2020" report. In its data-backed findings, Tinder suggests that Gen Z "never stopped dating" and instead discovered creative ways to stay connected with their potential matches, which included updating their profile bios and sending direct messages. Tinder released its annual "Year in Swipe" report for 2020.

Geosocial apps are having a bit of a moment. Tinder, Bumble, and a host of other services have emerged in recent years, promising to foster connections with real people, nearby. But online dating paved the way for these apps -- and even supposedly platonic services like Bumble BFF have struggled to shrug off the romantic connotation. So where does that leave people who aren't looking for love, but do want to use new technology to make friends? That question -- or "shower thought," as he puts it -- motivated Antoine Daher to create Patook, an app that connects people based on common interests.

An exotic stranger needs help, and you're the only one able to provide it. On any given day, a handful of those pleas still file into your email's spam folder. And if you replace "collect an inheritance" with "find true love," they're an increasing menace for dating apps and services. But they are an increasingly important front for criminals, who in turn use increasingly sophisticated methods to snare their marks, and take them for whatever they can. A recently released list, by a fraud-busting company called Scamalytics, of the top lines and photos used in profiles by online dating grifters shows that while the range of sophistication may vary, the end goal is always the same: To fleece romance-seekers out of their money.