Big ones language models artificial intelligence (LLM) don’t really understand word gamesaccording to a academic research carried out by researchers from Art Cardiff University (Great Britain) and Ca’Foscari University of Venice (Italy) under the guidance of prof Jose Camacho Calladas.
The work was presented in early November 2025 at St Conference on empirical methods of natural language processing. The results show limitations artificial intelligence in tasks that require the interpretation of Art humorempathy and cultural nuances.
The study analyzed the ability Master of Laws identify and understand wordplay, a task that goes beyond simply identifying language structures. The team designed experiments in which the models were presented with punning sentences and modified versions of the same sentences.
For example, the sentence “I was a comedian, but my life became a joke” was used, and later the sentence was replaced with “chaotic”. Despite the lack of double meaning, the models continued to identify the phrase as a pun.
Another case analyzed: “Tall tales tend to be long.” By replacing key terms with synonyms or random words, Master of Laws They continued to point to the presence of puns, suggesting that their analysis was based on learned patterns rather than a true understanding of humor.
In an additional test, the sentence: “Old LLMs never die, they just lose focus” was modified by changing “focus” to “ukulele”. The model supported the pun, claiming that “ukulele” sounds similar to “you-kill-LLM”, although the original humorous meaning was lost.
The results of these experiments showed that Master of Laws They can detect the surface structure of puns, but they don’t understand the joke itself. Teacher Camacho Calados He explained that the research demonstrates the flimsiness of these models’ understanding of humor.
He noted that Master of Laws They tend to memorize patterns learned during training, which allows them to identify familiar wordplay, but does not mean true understanding.
The team was able to systematically fool the models by changing puns and removing double entendres, noting that Master of Laws They continued to associate these phrases with previous word games and even invented rationales to support this interpretation. According to researchers, perceived comprehension of word games in I.A It is actually an illusion.
The study also measured the models’ ability to distinguish puns from nonsense phrases when faced with unfamiliar examples. In these cases, the success rate Master of Laws went down to st 20%which indicates a superficial and limited understanding.
These findings raise cautions regarding use artificial intelligence in contexts that require cultural sensitivity, empathy, or nuanced interpretation, such as creating humorous content or social interaction. The research team emphasized that it is important not to trust blindly Master of Laws for tasks that depend on understanding humor or complex cultural aspects.
The study, titled “Unintentional Pun: Law Masters and the Illusion of Understanding Humor,” was presented at 2025 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language ProcessingArt Suzhouwhere it is necessary to continue to critically assess the possibilities and limitations artificial intelligence in language processing.
As a reminder, the authors of the work emphasized that it is important to be careful when using large language models in programs that require the interpretation of humor, empathy or cultural nuances, as their apparent understanding can be misleading.
