Jakarta, INTI – Since ancient times, humans have dreamed of talking to animals. Stories of King Solomon, Saint Francis of Assisi, and fictional characters like Mowgli reflect our deep desire to communicate across species. Today, in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), that dream is finding a scientific foothold not through magic or myth, but through data and algorithms.
As large language models (LLMs) become increasingly capable of understanding and responding to human speech, scientists are beginning to ask: can this ability be extended to create “dialogue” with animals?
The Doctor Dolittle Challenge: Real Two-Way Communication
Researchers Yossi Yovel and Oded Rechavi from Tel Aviv University proposed what they call the Doctor Dolittle Challenge. This challenge emphasizes that true communication with animals isn’t just about interpreting their sounds or gestures but about establishing two-way communication where animals respond as if speaking with one of their own.
They outlined three essential criteria:
- The machine must use the animal’s natural (endogenous) signals.
- Communication should occur across various behavioral contexts.
- The animal’s response must be measurable, indicating it interprets the signal as meaningful communication.
Bees Dance and Robots Mimic
One striking example of this approach is the way bees perform a “waggle dance” to signal food locations to their colony. Researchers successfully built robotic bees that could mimic these movements and guide real bees to specific locations. However, this communication is limited to a single context.
Animal communication is often complex and multimodal combining visual, tactile, and acoustic signals. Many of these signals are subtle or imperceptible to humans. Researchers still struggle to determine what kinds of data need to be recorded for AI to fully decode these signals.
Can We Talk to Cats?
While future algorithms may one day detect when a pet cat is feeling affectionate or frustrated, directly asking a cat “How are you feeling?” may always be impossible.
As philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once suggested, human language might be fundamentally incompatible with non-human communication systems. Even if we succeed in producing signals that elicit a response from animals, we may never be able to discuss abstract or unfamiliar topics with them.
Primates Hold Promise But It’s Complicated
Primates like chimpanzees and bonobos, whose communication systems are closer to humans’, may offer more promising avenues. However, training AI to understand primates would require massive datasets and long-term observation in the wild.
Even with tools like neural recordings, proving that primates truly understand machine-generated signals remains a major challenge.
AI and the Boundaries of Possibility
Yovel and Rechavi conclude that while AI could significantly help decode animal communication patterns, it’s unlikely to ever allow humans to talk to animals in the way we speak with one another.
Nevertheless, attempting to understand and emulate animal communication remains a fascinating and worthwhile scientific pursuit. Technology can be a powerful tool for deepening our appreciation of life’s complexity and diversity.
Conclusion
Though biological and philosophical barriers may prevent humans from ever directly talking to animals, artificial intelligence is opening new pathways for understanding how animals communicate. It’s not about making animals speak like humans but about approaching interspecies understanding in ways we never thought possible.
Read More:Baidu Releases Ernie AI as Open Source to Expand Adoption