Scientists are promised $10 million for establishing a real conversation with animals

The initiators hope for the help of artificial intelligence

The team of scientists that can truly talk to animals will receive a prize of $10 million. It is expected that artificial intelligence will help researchers establish two-way communication with “smaller brothers,” say the team, which includes Tel Aviv University.

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In books and films about Doctor Dolittle (analogous to the good Doctor Aibolit), the ability to “talk to animals” is amazing, writes The Guardian. Now scientists are being offered a $10 million prize for creating real-life dialogues with animals.

The Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University have launched the Coller Dolittle Challenge for interspecies two-way communication. While the use of artificial intelligence is not mandatory, the team says the technology can improve almost all offerings.

“Just as the Rosetta Stone unlocked the secrets of hieroglyphics, I believe the power of artificial intelligence can help us create interspecies dialogue,” said Jeremy Koller, chairman of the foundation.

The team says the idea takes precedence : Researchers recently developed machine learning algorithms to translate the squeaks of bats, allowing them to identify the subject of an argument.

Other research in this area has included algorithms to decipher pigs' emotions from their rodent grunts and squeaks to determine when they are stressed. California-based nonprofit Earth Species Project is also working in the area, hoping to develop a system that can be applied to all species.

“The scientific community's understanding of non-human communication has advanced rapidly in recent years,” said Professor Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University, who is a Coller Dolittle Award winner and co-author of the bat study.

< p>While the main prize for “cracking the code” is either a $10 million equity investment or a $500,000 cash prize, the $100,000 annual prize will be aimed at helping researchers in the field develop “scientifically based models and algorithms for consistent communication with non-human organisms as long as interspecies communication is achieved.

Criteria for small awards include that the approaches are noninvasive and applicable to a variety of contexts, are based on common animal communication signals, and allow researchers to measure the animal's reaction to attempts to communicate with it.

“We hope to announce the criteria for receiving the main prize two to three years after receiving the smaller prizes,” says Professor Yovel.

The team behind the prize, which closes July 31, said the goal is to develop a system where animals don't realize they're actually communicating with humans – similar to the Turing test for artificial intelligence, in which the goal is to create a computer system whose conversation with a human is indistinguishable from normal ones. it was the voice of a real person.

«We're open to any organism and any mode of communication, from the acoustic communication of whales to the chemical communication of worms,» ​​Yovel said.

The team adds that the prize could have important implications for understanding animal senses and therefore contribute to the protection of animal rights.

Peter Gabriel, a musician and co-founder of Interspecies Internet who helped develop the concept for the award, said: “When I played music with the bonobo monkeys, I was amazed by their intelligence and musicality.” I'm glad there are now serious scientists working both to understand their communication and ways in which we could begin meaningful interspecies communication.

Dr Catherine Herborn, an animal behavior researcher at the University of Plymouth, said one useful application of animal communication decoding technologies is to understand what farm animals may need to improve their management.

However, some experts have raised ethical questions surrounding animal communication and questioned whether artificial intelligence can truly shed light on the meaning or function of animal vocalizations.

“I think no amount of artificial intelligence programming can replace long-term, detailed knowledge of the societies in which animals communicate,” said Robert Seyfarth, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. – Trying to figure out the meaning of a baboon's grunt, a dolphin's whistle or an elephant's roar, without knowing the social background, – it takes years, – is like turning to page 137 of Pride and Prejudice. and try to explain why Elizabeth Bennett says «no» Mr Darcy, without knowing anything about their history.”

Clara Mancini, professor of animal-computer interaction at the Open University, says it is very likely that artificial intelligence will help us decipher animal communication. “If successful, in my opinion, this would be one of the most significant achievements of humanity made possible by this rapidly developing technology,” she said.

But, she added, will it really allow us to understand animal experience, success in this enormous task is another matter.

“More importantly, however, the question is whether we will be willing to truly listen to what animals have to say, and finally , to provide them with the fundamental rights that their inherent dignity requires. I sincerely hope so.”