The Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University (Israel) will sponsor a prize for the research team that can unlock the potential for two-way communication between humans and animals.
The ability to converse with animals has long been explored in literature and science fiction films. Now, scientists who can create conversations between humans and animals will be awarded a prize of $10 million (254 billion VND).
The Coller Dolittle Two-way Communication Challenge was launched by the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University. Although the use of AI is not mandatory, they stated that this technology could enhance most of the proposed plans.
Jeremy Coller, the chairman of the foundation, explained: “Just as the Rosetta Stone unlocked the secrets of hieroglyphics, I believe the power of AI can help us unlock conversations between species.”
Can artificial intelligence help us talk to animals? (Illustrative image).
The organization mentioned that this idea is not new: researchers have recently developed algorithms to translate bat calls, allowing them to identify the subjects of conversations among these creatures.
Other efforts in this field include algorithms aimed at decoding the emotions of pigs from their grunts and identifying when rodents are stressed through their vocalizations.
The Earth Species Project, a nonprofit group based in California (USA), is also working with the hope of developing a system that could apply to all species.
“In recent years, the scientific community’s understanding of the communication patterns of non-human creatures has made significant leaps”, said Professor Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University, the president of the Coller Dolittle Prize and co-author of the bat study.
While the grand prize for “decoding” could be a $10 million equity investment or a cash prize of $500,000 (12.7 billion VND), there will also be annual prizes worth $100,000 (2.5 billion VND) to help researchers develop “robust scientific models and algorithms for coherent communication with non-human creatures, until interspecies communication is achieved.”
The criteria for the smaller prizes require a non-invasive approach that can be applied in various contexts, based on the normal communication signals of animals and allowing researchers to measure animal responses while attempting to communicate with them.
“We intend to announce the criteria for the grand prize after two to three years of the smaller awards,” Yovel stated.
The organization behind the prize indicated that the goal is to develop a system where animals do not realize they are communicating with humans—similar to the Turing test for AI, in which a computer system must engage in a conversation indistinguishable from that of a real human.
“We welcome all creatures and all methods, from the sound communication of whales to the chemical communication in worms,” Yovel added. The team also noted that the prize could have significant implications for understanding animal cognition and consequently support animal rights.
Peter Gabriel, musician and co-founder of the Interspecies Internet, the research team that helped develop the prize idea, shared: “When I play music with Bonobo monkeys, I am amazed by their intelligence and musical abilities…
I am delighted that scientists are now exploring how they communicate, and from there we can begin interspecies communication.”
Some experts have raised ethical questions about communicating with animals. (Illustrative image).
Dr. Katherine Herborn, a behavioral researcher at the University of Plymouth (UK), noted that one of the good applications of decoding animal language is understanding what livestock need to improve their management.
However, some experts have raised ethical questions surrounding the idea of conversing with animals and whether AI can truly elucidate the meaning or function of animal vocalizations.
“I think no AI program can replace detailed, long-term knowledge of animal societies,” said Robert Seyfarth, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania (USA).
“Trying to decode the grunts of baboons, the whistles of dolphins, or the trumpets of elephants without understanding the social context—this takes years— is like jumping into the middle of a book and trying to explain its plot.”
Clara Mancini, a professor of animal-computer interaction at The Open University (UK), stated that AI is likely to help us decode animal communication.
“In my view, if successful, this would be one of the most significant achievements of humanity thanks to this technology,” she said.
However, she added that whether success in this challenge would truly allow us to understand the experiences of animals is another question.
“More importantly, the question here is whether we are genuinely ready to listen to what animals say and ultimately grant them the basic rights they demand,” she stated. I sincerely hope so.
