We Might Be Able to Speak to and Understand Animals Soon

Advancements in AI are transforming animal science

Hiya!

For decades, we’ve wondered what aliens might be like. What language might they speak, and how we might communicate with them. Meanwhile, some people (like me) point out that humans are not alone on this planet but share it with countless other species — some of which research has shown are quite intelligent.

So, learning how to communicate with other lifeforms already here would not only transform our relationships with nature but also better prepare us for if or when we do encounter alien life. The whole concept, though, feels a little science-fictionish. Talk to animals? As if there might be Goggle translate for pets?

Remarkably, such a future may not be all that far off. Experts are working on developing tools that can tell us not just how animals communicate but what they’re saying. In fact, they’ve already discovered quite a bit about animal communication and have big plans for the future.

Growing Interest in Animal Communication

You may recall a famous young gorilla from the 1970s named Koko, who became an international sensation for her ability to learn and use human sign language to communicate. Since then, there have been more claims from researchers and everyday people that animals can learn how to communicate using our language.

Researchers thought they could teach dolphins English and teach other primates like chimpanzees sign language like Koko. Meanwhile, social media is full of people training all sorts of pets, from rabbits to cats and dogs, to communicate by pressing buttons that speak words. The trend is so popular that places like the American Kennel Club now provide resources for anyone who wants to train their dog to do it.

However, many skeptics believe Koko and other animals that “learn” to speak don’t actually understand what they’re “saying” and that even attempting to make other species communicate using our human language is futile for one crucial reason. Our human form of communication likely represents symbols, meanings, and senses that are entirely foreign to other species.

Karen Bakker, a professor at the University of British Columbia, a fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and author of The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants explained to Scientific American:

“There's one set of researchers that's keen on finding out whether animals can engage in symbolic communication and another set that says, ‘That is anthropomorphizing. We need to understand nonhuman communication on its own terms,’”

An-thro-po-morphi-zation is our habit of attributing human emotions, behaviors, and feelings to nonhuman entities. We do it with animals but also deities, plants, and inanimate objects. Still, researchers argue that while animal communication vastly differs from our human version, it’s still worth investigating.

Enter Artificial Intelligence