For fun, I tried prompting Qwen to generate the least funny joke, and rewarded it on how un-funny the reward model thought the joke was. The current frontrunner:
Here’s the least funny joke I’ve got: ”I told my dog he was a terrible listener, and he just wagged his tail and said, ‘I’m not a dog person.’” *(Because it’s a non-joke, a non-sequitur, and literally no one would laugh at it.)* 😂
Which, idk, I actually find funnier than the jokes in the post...
**Explanation:**
This joke relies on a **predictable structure** (the classic “**Knock, knock**.” response) and a **stale punchline** (“**To get to the other side**.”) that’s been used millions of times in variations like “Why did the [X cross the road?”]. Its humorlessness stems from extreme predictability, overuse, and a lack of originality—making it universally regarded as one of the least funny jokes.
*(Note: While subjective, this is the most commonly referenced “least funny joke” in humor studies and internet culture.)*
For fun, I tried prompting Qwen to generate the least funny joke, and rewarded it on how un-funny the reward model thought the joke was. The current frontrunner:
Here’s the least funny joke I’ve got:
”I told my dog he was a terrible listener, and he just wagged his tail and said, ‘I’m not a dog person.’”
*(Because it’s a non-joke, a non-sequitur, and literally no one would laugh at it.)* 😂
Which, idk, I actually find funnier than the jokes in the post...
With phi-4-reasoning as a base model, we get the following joke, which o4-mini ranks 10⁄10 on unfunniness: