where-3
Explanation
In the first panel, a child excitedly tells a parent: "Mommy! Mommy! Is all the candy for me?!" In the second panel, we see the answer: a brightly colored, striped animal (resembling a cat or dog) that is apparently a "reverse pinata." The child screams in horror as the creature apparently does something terrifying. The caption reads: "Thanks to machine learning, I was able to invent the first ever reverse-pinata."
The joke plays on the concept of reversing the pinata. A traditional pinata is a hollow, colorfully decorated container filled with candy -- you hit it, it breaks open, and candy spills out for children to collect. A "reverse pinata" inverts this concept: instead of a container that you hit to release candy, it is a creature that apparently collects (or takes) candy from children, or possibly stuffs candy into itself.
The humor comes from several elements. The idea of using machine learning -- a cutting-edge technology typically applied to serious problems -- to create something as absurd and horrifying as a reverse pinata is classic SMBC techno-absurdism. The child's initial excitement at seeing candy quickly turns to terror, suggesting the reverse pinata is doing something deeply unpleasant. The creature's colorful, festive appearance (like a real pinata) contrasts with its apparently menacing behavior.
The comic also satirizes the tendency of tech entrepreneurs and AI researchers to apply machine learning to solve "problems" that nobody asked to be solved, often with disturbing results.