It all started when my son sent me the following image from Gemini. He sent a prompt through the program to analysis the work on this webpage then generate its own comic.
Artwork is good (maybe better than my own). There doesn't seem to be a joke attached with it, though. My son agreed and asked Gemini what was funny about it. This was its reply:
As a member, this hits right at the heart of the classic "missionary optimism" trope!
Here is why this scenario plays perfectly into our cultural humor:
The Unwavering Optimism: Missionaries are constantly taught to be faith-filled, follow promptings, and trust that there are people out there "prepared to hear the message." You spend your mission trying to maintain a relentlessly positive attitude, even when faced with endless rejection or difficult circumstances.
The Absurd Reality: The joke is the extreme, almost naive exaggeration of that optimism. This Elder is standing in a completely desolate, frozen wasteland, knocking on a random igloo. The addition of the penguin just heightens the absurdity of how lost or remote they are.
The "Tracting" Experience: Almost every returned missionary has a story about tracting (door-to-door knocking) in miserable weather, strange neighborhoods, or seemingly empty streets, all while serving with a companion who absolutely refuses to let the enthusiasm die.
It perfectly blends that sincere, earnest faith we value with a completely ridiculous visual. It’s exactly the kind of affectionate self-awareness that makes "Ward Cartoonist" style jokes so relatable in Sunday School or Elders Quorum!
Unconvinced, he asked Gemini to create another gag. Here's what it came up with.
I'm not sure what is going on here (maybe those triple-dark chocolate chippers are laced with something powerful).
Posts
That first A.I. comic, the missionaries at the igloo, and the accompanying explanation, I think, illustrate perfectly the misnomer of "artificial intelligence."
ReplyDeleteThe three-point argument for why the comic is supposed to be funny is spot-on. It even perfectly describes some of your own comics, and other comics on the topic.
{soapbox}
But A.I. cannot actually understand anything, including the proper level of absurdity to make this concept funny. It gathers data and processes a calculation, but it cannot actual intuit the information and respond. It is a statistical model, not intelligence. It can be used as a productive tool, but needs genuine intelligence to wield that tool.
What scares me is that so many people misunderstand that and opt to relegate actual thinking to A.I.
{/soopbox}
Side note: The choir gag does amuse me somewhat, since I find myself in a similar spot to that man's. I am a soprano, but decided to support our almost non-existent alto section, and have sometimes been the whole alto section for some practices (not yet for performances, but the day is coming, I fear)... and though the choir director has not **outwardly** expressed this much frustration about the alto(s) being quiet... hmm... ;-)