A new study finds that artificial intelligence can create meme captions that are funnier, more creative, and more shareable than those made by humans on average. However, when it comes to the absolute best memes, humans still reign supreme.
Details about the meme-creation study
The research, conducted by an international team from Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Germany’s LMU Munich and TU Darmstadt, compared meme creation across three groups: humans working alone, humans collaborating with AI, and AI working entirely on its own. Using popular meme templates, participants and AI-generated captions were tested in relatable categories like work, food, and sports.
The study’s results
Memes created entirely by AI, specifically OpenAI’s GPT-4, scored higher on average for humor, creativity, and shareability than those made by humans alone or humans working with AI. But here’s the catch: The funniest individual memes were still made by humans, while human-AI collaborations produced the most creative and shareable ones.
One key takeaway is that AI-assisted humans generated significantly more meme ideas and found the process easier; however, this boost in productivity didn’t translate to higher-quality memes. As the researchers noted, “The increased productivity of human-AI teams does not lead to better results—just to more results.”
Participants who used AI also reported feeling less ownership over their creations, which affected their creative satisfaction.
The study highlights a nuanced reality: While AI can churn out broadly appealing memes thanks to its training on vast amounts of internet data, humans bring a personal touch that occasionally results in exceptionally funny content. The study is slated to be presented at the 2025 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces.
“I regret to announce that the meme Turing Test has been passed,” joked Ethan Mollick, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Mollick, who studies AI, shared the findings online, sparking both amusement and concern.
Why are AI memes funnier on average?
The study suggests that AI’s ability to identify broadly appealing humor patterns gives it an edge in creating memes that resonate with a wide audience. Human-created memes, on the other hand, often reflect personal experiences, which can lead to hit-or-miss results.
But not everyone is convinced. Some critics argue that AI’s success might simply reflect its ability to target the “lowest common denominator” of internet humor. As Mollick quipped, “Many of you are realizing that most people have terrible taste in memes.”
Study’s limitations and future research
The study isn’t without its flaws. The meme creation sessions were short, and participants didn’t always fully utilize the AI tools. In addition, the crowdsourced evaluators may have biased the results toward mainstream humor, favoring AI-generated memes optimized for broad appeal.
The researchers suggest future studies could explore scenarios where AI rapidly generates multiple ideas, allowing humans to curate and refine the best content.