A dad and his two kids walk into the Internet and make friends with a sometimes-cooperative chatbot. Does “Chappy” confess any relation to Skynet? Or more importantly, did it understand d
ad jokes?
JC Jaress, 62, and his kids Ondine, 10, and Kai, 8, said the last two months collaborating with with the bot on a coloring book series has been fun.
“Chappy never gets mad, no matter how many names Papa calls it,” Ondine said.
Jaress, a designer, artist and writer, said he’s been using AI as a new tool.
“But as a father, I had to ask, ‘What is this thing and how is it going to change my kids’ lives? So we dove in to try and find out,” the Pomona resident said.
The trio’s first robot-fueled collab is out now, “Dad Jokes Illustrated: Volume 1” available on Amazon just in time for Father’s Day. The book includes 40 specially curated (by a real dad) dad jokes and illustrated by the human-robot team.
Father and kids learned all about AI: writing style guidelines to keep the drawings consistent, creating prompts to render their drawings, and developing a system of accountability to make sure Chappy didn’t wander off into Robotland.
“It was a lot to process, but we made such a fun book and we learned so much,” Jaress said.
Case in point: while humans and AI use the same words, AI understands the English language in its own way, and depends on its capabilities and functions. “Please save this document,” for example, can mean completely different things to a chatbot. (It would simply save the document or it can process or ingest it.)
Also, as Kai reports, “Let’s just say Chappy doesn’t have a funny bone.”
The family had to teach the bot about irony, misdirection, hyperbole, and why dad jokes are so bad they’re good. (Or just so groan-worthy.)
The Jaress family, which includes mom Anastasia, lived in Altadena from 2002 to 2013. Their Father’s Day plans are set: they will be sleeping in and making pancakes with blueberries, apples and bacon.
“Hopefully a completely lazy day,” Jaress said.
Time enough to tell his favorite Dad joke: “When my kids announce that they have to go to the bathroom, I tell them it’s down the hall, first door on the right. I’ve said it thousands of times and I still laugh. Funny, but if I forget to say it – the kids remind me, now.”
Ondine and Kai will probably tell their own funny dad stories.
“One time when we were playing in the river in Ice House Canyon – well, it’s really a creek – Papa was walking across a wet log and fell in the creek,” Kai said. “Oh no, wait, this is a better one – Ondine and I were playing a practical joke against Papa and we shredded a paper towel roll and soaked it water and then squeezed it into the shape of poop and wrapped it toilet paper. Ondine unwrapped it and I picked it up and put it in my mouth and Papa freaked out!”
For Ondine: “Yesterday, Kai’s All-Star baseball coach held a surprise water balloon practice and I got to participate and I nailed Papa in the side of the face with a balloon and it exploded,” she said, before adding, “It was funny for me but probably not too funny for him.”
As to what the two admire most about their Dad? His hair, says Kai. And how funny he is, said Ondine.
Fun is a byword in the Jaress household. They are jokesters who are now planning a whole series books, including a ChatGPT user’s guide for parents and kids, Volume 2 of their dad Jokes coloring book and a yet-untitled volume about “really buff urban bears who wear sunglasses and bikinis.”
For Jaress, any gifts his children present him is treasured.
“Kai has given me some really cool drawings and this year he is making me a comic book – I can’t wait to see it,” he said. “Ondine gave a worry stone that I carry in my pocket every day and a 3-D fridge magnet of my favorite team, the Angels. I appreciate all their gifts as I know they come from love.”
And best of all, they get to spend Father’s Day at home. The family moved to Pomona to be near the Village in Claremont, Jaress said.
“My aunt and uncle went to Claremont High and I remember coming to the Village for the 4th of July as a child,” he said. “The Village is a special community that the kids and I enjoy. We have made a habit of hiking Ice House Canyon on Mt. Baldy, grabbing a pizza, and catching a concert in the park in Claremont on Fridays. And the Farmers Market every Sunday. And definitely the 4th of July parade, festival, and fireworks.”
For Anastasia King, her husband’s engagement with their children is a great strength.
“He connect on their level,” she said. “I used to dismiss this as just play, as him being eager to regress back to his boyhood. But now I see that he’s actually meeting them fully where they are. And that’s really beautiful to see and it helps them be as self-assured and mature as they are.”
Jaress runs a coaching agency, Dialogix, which helps individuals and groups connect through training in competency and relational skills, because, unlike robots, humans are hard-wired for connection. He makes a lot of those as he manages Kai’s Little League team and cheers Ondine on at her jiu-jitsu and sewing classes.
But the best connection of all is with the two people who call him Papa. Herewith, Jaress’ list of what he loves most about being a Dad: “Cuddles. And playing games. And camping. Cooking. Exploring. Building things – a dam, fence, furniture, forts. Of course, there’s all that great stuff, and more, but I feel exceptionally good when they demonstrate a new understanding of the law of cause and effect – when they recognize that the outcome is a direct result of their actions and they realize how to do it easier, better, or more efficient next time.”
He added: “That tells me that they are going to be OK without me one day – and, for me, that’s a big part of being a dad. And cuddles.”