Can AI Unlock the Secrets of the Animal Mind?
For centuries, humans have wondered what animals are thinking—how they experience the world, and whether their communications carry meaning beyond instinctive noise. While we’ve long relied on behavioral observation, a new ally has emerged: artificial intelligence. AI is beginning to decode animal communications in ways once thought impossible, revealing a hidden world of sound, pattern, and possibly even thought.
AI’s Role in Animal Communication: From Whales to Elephants
Language, for humans, is both a descriptive tool and a filter for experience. For animals, lacking our spoken language, their vocalizations and other signals have been mysterious—until now.
Recent studies show AI can detect structured patterns in animal sounds. For example:
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Sperm whales may use a “phonetic alphabet” to build complex messages.
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Elephants might call each other by unique names, as suggested by studies led by Michael Pardo at Colorado State University.
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AI models predict which elephant will respond to specific sounds better than random chance—suggesting individual recognition.
This is possible because AI excels at identifying, parsing, and replicating patterns—core components of language.
The Earth Species Project: A New Frontier in Bioacoustics
One of the most ambitious efforts in this space is the Earth Species Project (ESP). It uses large language models—like those behind ChatGPT—to analyze non-human communication. Their new tool, NatureLM-audio, has been trained on massive audio datasets including:
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Birdcalls from Xeno-canto
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Whale sounds from the Watkins Marine Mammal Sound Database
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Recordings from the iNaturalist community
NatureLM-audio doesn’t translate animal speech into English, but it can:
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Identify species and life stage from audio
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Detect and classify thousands of species’ calls
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Determine types of calls, helping to unravel communication structures
The Limits of Translation: Context, Tone, and Bias
But building an animal dictionary is not enough. Human language carries emotional subtext, sarcasm, and cultural meaning. When someone says “I’m fine,” they might mean the opposite. The same may be true for animal calls.
Context matters—urgency, tone, and audience all influence meaning. AI may struggle to fully interpret these nuances, especially when trained with human-centric data. As Chris Krupenye of Johns Hopkins notes, decoding a bonobo’s call is one thing; understanding its emotional and situational context is another.
The “Dr. Doolittle” Problem: Can We Ever Truly Understand?
In a 2023 paper, scientists Yossi Yovel and Oded Rechavi labeled the obstacles to interspecies communication as the “Dr. Doolittle Problem.” They argued that:
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AI is limited by human bias in training and interpretation.
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Animals may communicate using cues (like smells or electromagnetic fields) that humans cannot detect.
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Some contexts might be uniquely animal—unknowable to humans.
For instance, Yovel’s work with fruit bats revealed consistent communication patterns, but only from a human-labeled perspective (feeding, mating, sleeping). There might be whole layers of meaning we simply can’t grasp.
Beyond Speech: Multimodal Animal Communication
Animals don’t rely solely on sounds. They might:
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Emit smells
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Make subtle body movements
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Use electrical signals
If AI only tracks one signal type (like movement) but ignores others (like scent), it may completely misinterpret a message. True understanding might require multi-sensory analysis.
The Philosophical Side: Sentience, Consciousness, and AI
Understanding animal minds might also help us assess the sentience of AI. Philosopher Kristin Andrews believes that if AI can model an animal brain using simulated neurons (rather than just mimicking behavior), it might show real signs of sentience.
But unlike animals, AI lacks physical experience—it can fake pain or preference by mimicking patterns. That’s like a student getting test answers beforehand. Real understanding comes from embodiment and sensory experience.
Conclusion: AI’s Role as a Bridge, Not a Translator
We may never truly know what it’s like to be a bat, as philosopher Thomas Nagel argued in 1974. But AI could offer tools to help us get closer to understanding the inner lives of animals—and, perhaps, deepen our understanding of consciousness itself.
As Katie Zacarian, CEO of the Earth Species Project, puts it: AI isn’t a universal translator. It’s an assistive tool—like a telescope—that expands our ability to sense and perceive what’s previously been hidden. It may not let us “talk” to animals, but it can help us listen in ways we never could before.
Final Thoughts: Are We Ready to Share Our World?
As researchers forge ahead, they aren't just trying to talk to animals. They’re building a bridge across species—one that connects us through pattern, sound, and maybe even empathy. The more we understand about animal communication, the more we might reflect on our own.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll learn that the world isn’t ours alone—but a shared space full of voices waiting to be heard.