Using AI to ‘talk to animals’ might make us feel clever – but what, if anything, does it do for them?
News Source
•Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:00:54 GMT
📰 What Happened
Guardian writer Amy Martin travelled to Shark Bay in Western Australia to watch dolphin research. Scientist Stephanie King records dolphin whistles and clicks, then uses AI to sort the data. King says AI helps, but she warns against one big claim.
She says headlines about decoding animal speech are misleading. Dolphins hear and feel sound in ways humans cannot share. So feeding their calls into a computer will not give us a real chat.
🔍 The Backstory
Elephant expert Joyce Poole agrees. She has spent decades recording African elephants and calls the idea of talking to them gimmicky. She just wants to understand what they say. Her team names sounds like Female Chorus Rumbles.
Prize money now backs this field, including the Coller Dolittle Challenge. King worries prizes push scientists to overstate what they find. The piece ran on 22 Sep 2026 and was updated on 23 Sep 2026.
🎯 Why It Matters
Better animal research can win animals more respect and stronger protection. It also teaches us to question flashy tech claims that sound too good to be true.
Guardian writer Amy Martin travelled to Shark Bay in Western Australia to watch dolphin research. Scientist Stephanie King records dolphin whistles and clicks, then uses AI to sort the data. King says AI helps, but she warns against one big claim.
She says headlines about decoding animal speech are misleading. Dolphins hear and feel sound in ways humans cannot share. So feeding their calls into a computer will not give us a real chat.
Elephant expert Joyce Poole agrees. She has spent decades recording African elephants and calls the idea of talking to them gimmicky. She just wants to understand what they say. Her team names sounds like Female Chorus Rumbles.
Prize money now backs this field, including the Coller Dolittle Challenge. King worries prizes push scientists to overstate what they find. The piece ran on 22 Sep 2026 and was updated on 23 Sep 2026.
Better animal research can win animals more respect and stronger protection. It also teaches us to question flashy tech claims that sound too good to be true.