*By Max Godnick*
Alexa, be funnier.
That's the directive Amazon seems to want its tech to follow with its investment in [Botnik](http://botnik.org/), a studio that uses predictive text algorithms to make original comedic content with remixed language.
"I think that Alexa would be wise to use as much of our technology as she can," founder and CEO, Jamie Brew said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar.
The concept for Botnik is based on that of a smartphone's auto-fill feature: using software to predict what users might want to type next.
Brew said that he noticed phones were only using the software in a "really narrow context," limited to the dry syntax typically used in texts and e-mails.
"What if you could do that for everything, and what if you can do that for art?" he asked.
So, instead of anticipating a texter's conversation, Botnik synthesizes certain primary sources ー ["Seinfeld" scripts](http://botnik.org/content/seinfeld-1.html), [Tinder profiles](http://botnik.org/content/tingle-tinders.html) and even ["Fortnite"](http://botnik.org/content/fortnite.html) ー and issues recommendations to its team of in-house human writers. In this case, the human element is just as important as the mechanical one.
"The creations of our writers and users are the result of people collaborating with machines, not machines running on their own," Brew said in an email to Cheddar.
Brew ー formerly of The Onion and its provocative, Buzzfeed-esque offshoot ClickHole ー and his team just released its first [music video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtybvwLJC30), with lyrics entirely based on Morrissey songs and Amazon reviews for the fitness program "P90X." The humans at Botnik selected which predicted lyrics were funniest, and then composed an original melody.
"We saw that these were two of the best text sources that we could find in the entire world," Brew said.
The unlikely pairing generated wistful lyrical gems like: "Will I be a wonderful shape after completing P90X?" and "I've gotten bored with this desire to get ripped."
Botnik Studios even worked its magic on Cheddar's own content. After analyzing the transcripts of a week's worth of our news scripts, Brew and his collaborators (both human and machine) shared a warped take on the news.
Brew said that Botnik Studios is not working on any Alexa-specific collaborations at the moment, but his still-young company expects to have "all sorts of" partnerships in the future.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/predictive-text-an-algorithm-for-laughs).
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
