Understanding Animals with Artificial Intelligence

The applications of artificial intelligence are expanding into various fields, with linguistics emerging as a promising area of research. Neural network projects are already focusing on enhancing automated translation quality. Recently, an Artificial Intelligent project analyzed Indias archive, concluding that Spain might have discovered Australia and uncovering several unheard-of shipwrecks. If you found this article through a search engine, it is likely due to an AI algorithm that excels in identifying patterns and establishing semantic connections. The next breakthrough for artificial intelligence could be communication with animals.     

From prairie dogs to marmosets and dolphins

Research teams are developing new artificial intelligence tools to facilitate a deeper understanding of animals across various species. Professor Slobodchikoff observed prairie dogs’ ability to describe their predators’ size and color in a sophisticated manner. This led to the establishment of Zoolinguam, a startup dedicated to developing translation software based on AI for pets like dogs.

MIT scientists have created software to interpret the sounds emitted by marmosets, which use ten to fifteen different calls and warnings. The program can isolate each sound’s meaning from the background noise with 90 percent accuracy, thanks to artificial intelligence.

Gavagai AB, a Swedish startup that specializes in human language analysis software, has partnered with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology to employ artificial intelligence in understanding the language of dolphins. The aim is to have a functional version ready by 2021.

While communication involves sounds and phonemes, understanding animals also includes interpreting body language and facial expressions. Scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed software that can analyze sheep’s facial expressions to detect signs of pain, achieving a 67 percent precision similar to human analysis. The researchers believe this method can be extended to other species soon.  

More than words

Aside from linguistics, artificial intelligence excels in image recognition. The University of Cambridge scientists have devised software that can analyze sheep’s faces for signs of pain, achieving results comparable to human visual analysis. They are confident in the software’s potential to extend to other species.  

Source: Wired