Breakthrough Aims to Unlock Two-Way Communication Between Humans and Animals
The Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University in Israel have teamed up to offer a groundbreaking prize for any research team that can unlock two-way communication between humans and animals.
With a prize pool of $10 million, the Coller Dolittle Transpecies Communication Prize challenges scientists to create a conversation between humans and animals.
"Just as the Rosetta Stone unlocked the secrets of hieroglyphs, I believe the power of AI can help us unlock the Rosetta Stone of interspecies communication," explained Jeremy Coller, Chairman of the foundation.
AI as a Potential Catalyst
While the use of AI is not mandatory, the organizers acknowledge its potential to accelerate most proposed approaches. The foundation cites recent research that has developed algorithms to translate bat calls, enabling scientists to identify topics of their conversations.
Other efforts in the field include algorithms designed to decipher emotions in pigs from their vocalizations and decode rodent calls to detect stress. Project Earth Species, a non-profit group based in California, is also working towards a system that could be applicable across species.
Incremental Progress and Funding
"In recent years, there have been some dramatic leaps in our understanding of the communication modalities of non-human animals," said Professor Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University, Chair of the Coller Dolittle Prize and co-author of the bat study.
Along with the grand prize, which could be awarded as either a $10 million equity investment or a $500,000 cash award, there will be annual awards of $100,000 to support researchers developing "rigorous scientific models and algorithms for meaningful communication with non-human animals, on a path towards trans-species communication."
The criteria for these smaller awards require non-invasive, context-independent approaches that rely on animals' natural communication signals and allow researchers to measure the animal's response to their communication attempts.
"We expect to announce the criteria for the grand prize after two or three years of smaller prizes," said Yovel.
Animal Perception and Ethical Considerations
The goal, according to the prize organizers, is to develop a system where animals do not recognize that they are communicating with humans - similar to the Turing test for AI, where a computer system must carry on a conversation that is indistinguishable from a real person.
"We welcome all creatures and modalities, from acoustic communication in whales to chemical communication in worms," said Yovel. The team adds that the prize could have significant implications for understanding animal sentience and, by extension, supporting animal rights.
"When I play music with bonobos, I'm struck by their intelligence and musicality... I'm excited that scientists are now exploring how they communicate and that this could become the beginnings of trans-species communication," said Peter Gabriel, musician and co-founder of Interspecies Internet, the think tank that helped develop the prize concept.
Some experts have raised ethical questions about the implications of translating animal speech. Dr. Katherine Herborn, an animal behavior researcher at Plymouth University in the UK, suggests that understanding the vocalizations of farm animals could benefit their welfare through improved management practices.
However, others question whether AI can truly decipher the meaning or function of animal vocalizations. "I don't think a program is ever going to replace deep, long-term knowledge of the animals' societies," said Robert Seyfarth, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. "Trying to decode baboon grunts, dolphin whistles, or elephant rumbles without understanding the social contexts - which take years to learn - is like jumping into the middle of a book and trying to figure out the plot."
AI as a Facilitator, but Empathy as the Ultimate Challenge
Clara Mancini, a professor of human-animal interaction at The Open University in the UK, believes AI is likely to aid our understanding of animal communication. "In my view, if successful, this would be one of the greatest achievements of human-technology interactions," she said.
However, Mancini adds that whether success in this challenge will lead to a genuine understanding of the animal experience is another question. "More importantly, are we prepared to truly listen to what animals have to say and eventually grant them the basic rights they deserve?" she said. "I sincerely hope so."