In an exciting breakthrough for research in animal communication, the SETI institute managed to
have the first ever conversation with a humpbacked whale. The SETI institute began as a NASA
research program to understand and search for life beyond earth. The Whale-SETI team is using the
mathematics of information theory to understand terrestrial, non-human communication as a way
to develop filters to apply to any communication with extraterrestrial life.

Humpback whales are social and intelligent creatures who make tools and communicate with songs
and social calls. The Whale-SETI team has been studying humpback whale communication, which
include “contact calls” that whales use to communicate their presence to other whales. The team of
scientists from the SETI Institute, UC Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation played the contact calls
into the sea via an underwater speaker, and a humpback whale named Twain approached and
circled the team’s boat while responding in a style that matched the original contact signal. The
researchers managed to have a 20 minute conversation with Twain. It is the first known
“conversation” between humans and humpback whales. Humpback whales also display non-audio
communicative behavior when they blow bubble rings in the presence of humans.

Whale SETI may be viewed as a springboard for communicating with extraterrestrial life. However
communication with animals could have more immediate benefits for animals in our world, right
now. Whales are one of the marine creatures who are profoundly affected by human activity. Whale song is disrupted by the noise of ships. If we can communicate with non-human animals our decision making should consider them as equal participants.

Humans have erroneously viewed human communication as synonymous with superior intelligence.
Without the ability to communicate with other animals and with a so-called superior intelligence
human activity has rampaged throughout animal habitats without the consent of animals. Every step
towards understanding animal intelligence and communication provides further evidence that these
assumptions are wrong. Scientific knowledge should not dictate our respect for non-human animals,
however scientific discovery can provide a basis for progressive animal rights policy and zero
tolerance for cruelty towards non-human lives.

Human ability to use language is the reason behind many spurious claims of human supremacy over animals. As science advances however, it’s become clear that animals, particularly social species like dolphins and apes, do use signals to communicate, from sign language to underwater acoustic signals. 

The pattern recognition ability of AI is now being used to analyze large data-sets of animal communication behaviors. The aim is to find patterns in communication signals that correspond to animal responses. Soon, we may be able to communicate with animals and actually ask them what their perspective is rather than imposing our human-centered perspective on them.

The use of AI to divine the secret world of animal communication has a trans-humanist bent. It goes beyond our limited ideas about our place in the world and the cosmos, as uniquely gifted life-forms who have the right to do what we want to other species.

AI research doesn’t only cover individual animal communications (bioacoustics), but also ecosystem communication (ecoacoustics). Already this research is being employed in such projects as recording the development and health of a reforested area of rainforest. It is also being used to monitor marine communications from cetaceans (whales and dolphins) with highly developed acoustic languages as a way of identifying groups of animals that could be at risk of colliding with ships and to establish marine protection zones. 

Since animals are autonomous, sentient beings with their own agenda, it’s not clear if they will welcome communication initiated by humans. Whenever paradigm-changing technology arrives, it should always be wielded with extreme care to manage its impact on all forms of life and ecosystems. In the best case scenario, when humans decentralize our place in the natural world with a new understanding of animal communication, we could start to see human choices as a process of consultation with the animal and natural world rather than a cruel process of dominion over it. 

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/how-artificial-intelligence-is-getting-us-closer-to-talking-to-animals/

Higher intelligence in animals, the ability to know your own thoughts and have self-consciousness is traditionally thought to be rare and mostly confined to humans. Humans have made this assumption for one simple reason which turns out to be, actually, not that smart. The reason many animals, such as birds, have been assumed not to have the higher intelligence of humans is that the six layered structure of the neocortex or forebrain is believed to be what gives humans, above all animals, intelligence and a sense of self. However, new research shows that pigeons and barn owls have neurons connected at right angles creating columns of connected neurons. The conclusion is that it doesn’t matter what structure is formed, super connectivity in a highly active part of the brain is likely the thing that gives rise to higher intelligence, not a particular “type” of brain.

Crows have a particularly large fore-brain and have long been known to be intelligent. New research demonstrates that crows are thinking of their own experience when they are asked to indicate whether they saw a flashing light in an experiment. Crows have been known to recognize faces, hold grudges, solve puzzles and use tools.

Birds resemble humans much less than great apes and other mammals. Perhaps this is why we are so surprised that they could possibly have consciousness, a sense of themselves and their fellow beings (crows are also known to hold funerals). But, as research now shows, this says a lot more about human bias than about the intelligence of birds.

Read More:

https://www.livescience.com/23090-crows-grudges-brains.html

https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/24/crows-possess-higher-intelligence-long-thought-primarily-human/?fbclid=IwAR0ScB6EyC9G7AS3YQsmdFh0YGDsPD2549Etj32aHCBrHGmc1FAXngNv-yE
https://www.livescience.com/53283-why-crows-hold-funerals.html