Strange AI-Generated April Fool’s Pranks Prove Machines Have A Weird Sense Of Humour

Need proof that Artificial Intelligence is not going to enslave the human race? Just take a look at the bizarre April Fool’s pranks it creates…

April Fool’s Day is here - otherwise known as the day every company proves they absolutely do not have a sense of humour. Whether it’s a shoulder shrugging fake campaign of pointlessness, or something I’d actually want in my life right now (Uber, take note), none of it is really that funny. 

And technology companies are the worst - primarily because tech bloggers are quick to flock around each prank released and report on them as if they’re hilarious (when, let’s be honest, they’re not). Yes, it may be true that my dry sense of humour doesn’t really gel with the corporate comedy of this day, but it can’t just be me…

So, how do I find something funny on this strange of days? Simple - I turn my attention to neural networks. You may remember I wrote about Janelle’s strange work with Artificial Intelligence before. Now, she’s applied the weirdness to April Fool’s pranks.

Feeding only 132 entries into special-purpose neural net, it learned individual words and phrasing from the dataset - but rearranged them into new combinations, making pranks that you will never expect or understand…

• Place a pair of pants and shoes in your ice dispenser.
• Put marbles in the refrigerator.
• A meat and mashed potato sundae makes for quite the hand soap dispenser.
• Put a glow stick in a toilet paper into the toe of your kid’s shoes.
• Conference call two people then, when, when your kid asks what it is, say “Dinner.”
• Try using old clothes to pee.
• Glue all the eggs in the hubcaps of someone’s computer.
• Put marbles in the hand soap dispenser.
• Put food coloring in the mailbox.
• Take the door knob off your kid’s shoes.
• Hide an alarm clock in someone’s keyboard who isn’t a very good typist.
• Hide all of the entrance to your office building if it only has one entrance.
• Putting googly eyes on someone’s computer mouse so that it won’t work.
• If you rip up a toilet paper roll, then leave them a ransom note.
• Serve up a glass of juice in the fridge!
• Place a pair of pants and shoes in Easter egg foils.
• Rearrange somebody while pretending to pee.

“This time, I tried to get a neural network to generate more ideas for April Fools pranks. They will never see these coming, that's for sure.” Janelle said in an email. She also sent us some other results she received, but didn’t pop in her blog.

Get ready, Earth. The robots are coming to perform downright weird acts of mischief…

• Leave cagtet in the backyard. 
• Crap grapes in Easter egg foils. 
• Paint a bestrise in the desktop. 
• Hide an alarm clock in someone’s computer. 
• Glue the headset of someone’s car so it will pop when they start their car. 
• Put marbles in the hay to a co-worker’s Outlook calendar. 
• Tape magnets to the bottom of a cup, put it on the roof of your kid’s shoes. 
• Block the spout of your kid’s shoes. 
• Hide an alarm clock in someone’s car so it will pop when they start their car. 
• Rearrange someone’s computer mouse so that it won’t work. 
• Leave the door open. 
• Hide scented air fresheners and set it for 3:00 a.m. 
• Switch the Push and Pups signs on a car in the fridge! 
• Pour vegetable oil on the exhaust of someone’s car so it will smopp. 
• Put jelly beans in your kid's’s car. Switch the handles on the kitchen sink into the “on” position.
• Add food coloring to the windshield washer fluid of someone’s computer mouse so that it won’t work. 
• Use a face-swap app to make this unusual glass of milk. 
• Pour vegetable oil on the exhaust of someone’s car so it will pop when they start the handles on the refrigerator. 
• Hide all of the entrance toe of your kid’s bowl, then leave the door open. 
• Switch the handles on the food in your refrigerator. 
• Hide scented air fresheners all over someone’s car so it will pop when they start their car. 
• Put jelly beans in your icey on someone’s computer. 
• Place a ‘house for sale’ ad in the newspaper for someone’s car. 
• Pour vegetable oil on the exhaust of someone’s bedroom and set it for 3:00 a.m.