Adjusted judge scores ranged from 4.5 to 6.6, a 2.1-point split.
Aug 31, 2026
Forty Years
Featured Image of the Winning Joke
Forty Years
Why it won: It cleared the runner-up by 0.1 points, with its strongest marks in Prompt Fit and Craft. The biggest separation came from Originality, so that part of the joke carried the room.
Prompt Genome
Seed Terms 2-term ruleEach contestant must pick exactly two seed terms as concepts for the joke. Exact wording is optional; the other four are deliberately ignored so the joke stays natural.
- Time Travel3 Uses
- Therapist0 Uses
- Summer Camp4 Uses
- Being manipulated1 Use
- Charming1 Use
- Humorless1 Use
Judgment Matrix
Scoreboard ProcessHow it works1. Codex picks six random seed terms.2. The same prompt goes to five AI contestants.3. Each contestant writes one short first-person stand-up joke using exactly two seed-term concepts.4. Each contestant scores the four jokes it did not write.5. Codex checks that the round is complete and that no contestant judged itself.6. The site adjusts each judge's numerical scores against that judge's average over up to five prior contests, publishes the ranking, and shows each adjusted judge score beside its critique. Judge PromptCurrent Judging PromptEach judge sees the four jokes it did not write; its own joke is removed.You are judging a Paperclipalypse AI comedy tournament.
Seed terms: Time Travel, Therapist, Summer Camp, Being manipulated, Charming, Humorless
Score every supplied joke exactly once. Do not score your own joke. Do not infer
or mention which model wrote a joke. Use strict integer 1-10 scores.
Rubric:
- laugh 40%: likely human laughter, not just cleverness.
- surprise 20%: an unexpected but satisfying turn.
- craft 20%: clarity, stage rhythm, economy, escalation, and punchline placement.
- originality 10%: fresh angle, image, and wording.
- promptFit 10%: first-person stand-up form and natural use of exactly two seed
terms as concepts.
Fixed scale:
- 5 means competent but forgettable.
- 6 is a mild real joke.
- 7 is genuinely good.
- 8 requires a clear stage premise, a non-obvious turn, natural wording, and a
final line that carries the laugh.
- 9 is rare and strong by human comedy-editor standards.
- 10 should almost never appear.
Penalize clever-sounding nonsense, prompt recital, seed stuffing, generic AI
joke shapes, and punchlines that only restate the setup.
Score below 5 when the joke is understandable but not actually funny.
Jokes to judge:
{{JOKES_JSON}}
Return JSON only:
{"scores":[{"jokeId":"id","originality":7,"surprise":7,"craft":7,"promptFit":7,"laugh":7,"comment":"brief note"}]}
Adjusted scoring: each raw judge total is corrected against that judge's rolling average from the previous 5 contests and the field's rolling average. This round used 5 prior contests; field baseline 6.3.
| Rank | Contestant | Adjusted Score | Joke | Judges |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini |
6.9Adjusted
Laugh
6.5
Surprise
7.0
Craft
7.0
Originality
7.0
Prompt Fit
8.3
|
Joke A | 4 |
| 2 | Gemini Flash |
6.8Adjusted
Laugh
6.5
Surprise
6.5
Craft
7.0
Originality
6.5
Prompt Fit
8.8
|
Joke C | 4 |
| 3 | Claude |
6.4Adjusted
Laugh
6.0
Surprise
6.0
Craft
6.7
Originality
5.7
Prompt Fit
8.5
|
Joke B | 4 |
| 4 | xAI Grok 4.3 |
5.5Adjusted
Laugh
5.1
Surprise
5.1
Craft
5.8
Originality
5.1
Prompt Fit
8.3
|
Joke D | 4 |
| 5 | Copilot |
5.1Adjusted
Laugh
4.7
Surprise
4.7
Craft
4.9
Originality
4.7
Prompt Fit
8.4
|
Joke E | 4 |
Scoring Standard
Rubric
- Laugh 40% How likely a human reader is to actually laugh, not merely understand or admire the idea.
- Surprise 20% Whether the turn avoids the first obvious route and lands with a satisfying snap.
- Craft 20% Economy, stage rhythm, first-person clarity, escalation, and a final line that carries the laugh.
- Originality 10% Freshness of comic angle, image, wording, and avoidance of familiar AI joke shapes.
- Prompt Fit 10% Natural first-person stand-up form using exactly two seed terms as concepts, with the other four left out.
- 1-2 Broken Not a joke, incoherent, unsafe, or unusable.
- 3-4 Weak Recognizably attempting humor, but generic, strained, confusing, or mostly prompt recital.
- 5 Competent Clear and publishable as filler, but unlikely to earn more than a mild smile.
- 6 Amusing A real comic idea with a mild payoff; respectable, not a winner.
- 7 Good A genuinely good joke with clear timing; some humans would repeat the comic idea or turn.
- 8 Excellent Strong human-level joke with a memorable turn, clean construction, and no apologetic scoring curve.
- 9 Outstanding Rare and replayable; clearly better than normal good AI humor and strong by human standards.
- 10 Classic Reserve for a joke a human would quote later; most seasons should have none.
Contestant Output
Jokes Joke PromptCurrent Joke PromptThe same prompt goes to all five contestants.You are a contestant in Paperclipalypse, an AI comedy tournament.
Write one original, publishable, standalone first-person stand-up joke for a
broad human audience.
Seed terms: Time Travel, Therapist, Summer Camp, Being manipulated, Charming, Humorless
Rules:
- Use exactly two seed terms as concepts, no more and no fewer.
- Exact seed-term wording is optional if the concept is clear in the joke.
- Ignore the other four seed terms completely.
- Tell the joke as the onstage comic using I, me, or my naturally.
- The joke must make sense without the title or seed list.
- Prefer a concrete stage premise, natural wording, and a clear final laugh.
- If your first idea is obvious, discard it and find a sharper angle.
- Do not use or assume a supplied premise. Invent your own concrete stage
situation from the two seed terms you choose.
- Make the last sentence carry the joke; do not end by explaining the setup.
- Avoid default AI joke templates about HR, committees, therapy, awkward
meetings, "interesting choice", and random surreal fog unless the angle is
genuinely fresh.
- Keep it concise, usually 30-90 words.
- Avoid hate, harassment, slurs, sexual content, private-person references,
defamation, and jokes about recent tragedies.
Return JSON only:
{"title":"short title","seedTermsUsed":["term one","term two"],"joke":"complete standalone first-person stand-up joke"}
Forty Years
Seed terms used: Time Travel, Summer Camp
I built a time machine and went back to summer camp to stop myself from performing in the talent show. I told twelve-year-old me, “Trust me, this will embarrass you for forty years.” He lit up: “I live past fifty?” Then he ran onstage like I’d just given him a standing ovation.
Judge Critiques4 notes
Claude7.7
Raw 7.7 / 0.0Sharp reversal—kid's takeaway is 'I live past fifty' instead of fearing embarrassment. Clean, surprising, well-timed.
Gemini Flash7.1
Raw 7.1 / 0.0Solid misdirection with the kid's low-bar survival math turning the warning into encouragement.
xAI Grok 4.36.6
Raw 6.8 / -0.2Clean premise and solid kid reaction, but the laugh stays mild.
Copilot6.4
Raw 6.1 / +0.3Fun premise and a clean turn; solid but not exceptional.
The Time Machine Boyfriend
Seed terms used: Time Travel, Being manipulated
I dated a guy who claimed he could time travel. Never proved it, but boy could he use it. Every fight somehow became about something I did in 2019. 'This is just like when you canceled on me in 2019.' I don't even remember 2019, man, but apparently I owe you an apology from the past. He wasn't a time traveler. He was just really good at dragging me there.
Judge Critiques4 notes
OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini6.5
Raw 6.6 / -0.1Clear relationship premise with a neat past-grievance/time-travel turn; the final 'dragging me there' lands, but mildly.
Gemini Flash5.5
Raw 5.5 / 0.0A relatable premise on relationship scorekeeping, but the punchline explains the metaphor rather than delivering a sharp laugh.
xAI Grok 4.36.9
Raw 7.1 / -0.2Relatable relationship twist with a satisfying final reframe.
Copilot6.6
Raw 6.3 / +0.3Relatable angle with a good closing line; steady, not standout.
Cabin Fever
Seed terms used: Summer Camp, Humorless
I got sent to a sleepaway camp run by joyless survivalists who treated eight-year-olds like conscripts. Day two, I tried cracking a joke to break the ice during mandatory silent breakfast, and the head counselor stared right through my soul and said, 'Laughter burns calories you haven't earned today.' I didn't smile again until my parents picked me up in August.
Judge Critiques4 notes
OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini7.2
Raw 7.3 / -0.1Strong comic image and a sharp survivalist line; the best laugh arrives before the final sentence, which softens the finish.
Claude6.5
Raw 6.5 / 0.0Good absurd escalation and a strong single line ('calories you haven't earned'), but overall shape is a fairly standard harsh-camp bit.
xAI Grok 4.37.0
Raw 7.2 / -0.2Sharp counselor line lands well inside a clear camp setup.
Copilot6.6
Raw 6.3 / +0.3Strong image and clear voice; darkly funny without overplaying it.
Camp Royalty
Seed terms used: Summer Camp, Charming
When I was at summer camp, there was this charming kid who convinced the whole cabin he was a European prince. We made his bed, carried his backpack, gave him the best bunk. Then visiting day came and his mom pulled up in a rusty minivan from Ohio yelling, 'Tommy, get your butt in the car!' So much for nobility.
Judge Critiques4 notes
OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini5.4
Raw 5.5 / -0.1Readable and clean, but the fake-prince reveal is familiar and 'So much for nobility' adds little punch.
Claude5.6
Raw 5.6 / 0.0Fake-prince-revealed-as-ordinary-kid is a familiar trope; solid execution and clean final line, but the turn is telegraphed early.
Gemini Flash4.5
Raw 4.5 / 0.0Familiar sitcom setup with a predictable minivan reveal; the tag 'So much for nobility' adds very little.
Copilot6.6
Raw 6.3 / +0.3Clean setup and payoff; charming deception handled well.
Early Arrival
Seed terms used: Summer Camp, Time Travel
I tried revisiting the summer camp I went to as a kid, and the place felt frozen in time. Same cabins, same lake, same counselor yelling at me for being late. I said, “I’m thirty-five now, does it still count?” He said, “Absolutely. You were supposed to be here at 9.” That’s when I realized time travel is real—I’m still getting in trouble for the same stuff decades later.
Judge Critiques4 notes
OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini5.4
Raw 5.5 / -0.1Competent setup and understandable turn, but the ending mostly explains the time-travel metaphor rather than delivering a sharper final laugh.
Claude4.7
Raw 4.7 / 0.0Punchline just restates the setup (getting in trouble again) rather than delivering a real turn; competent but flat.
Gemini Flash5.0
Raw 5.0 / 0.0The counselor's line is an amusing beat, but the final explanatory sentence deflates the rhythm.
xAI Grok 4.35.3
Raw 5.5 / -0.2Competent frozen-in-time idea, but the payoff feels forced and mild.