# > I took some time to look through what you said and checked around the
internet.

Look harder?

* * *

> I took some time to look through what you said and checked around the
internet. Interestingly, I found nothing that proves wrong the information I
conveyed.

Look harder?

> Are you familiar with the difference with the words ‘tell’ and ‘make’ or
‘create’?

Indeed. Ontology-based joke generators are more complex than something that
simply reposts existing jokes. They are still quite straightforward.

For instance, you can write a pun generator using an ontology like NELL’s by
identifying a word with two senses, then producing a statement that begins by
implying one sense but ends by verifying the other. There’s an implementation
of this algorithm in lisp from 1995 floating around — should be within the
first ten pages of google results for “computational humor” since it’s gotten
frontpage on slashdot a few times. That kind of joke isn’t usually very funny,
but it’s quite unambiguously _created_ by the system.

> you should find out about its current state

I’m part of the generative fiction community. I write these sorts of things on
a regular basis.

There are tutorials. If you have any interest in the subject, I recommend
reading them.

By [John Ohno](https://medium.com/@enkiv2) on [May 26,
2018](https://medium.com/p/bb42fee83d93).

[Canonical link](https://medium.com/@enkiv2/i-took-some-time-to-look-through-
what-you-said-and-checked-around-the-internet-bb42fee83d93)

Exported from [Medium](https://medium.com) on September 18, 2020.