New technology is revolutionising how we study and protect nature. In this video, we’ll learn how artificial intelligence is being used to decode the sonic landscapes of the ocean - specifically, whale song. That’s right, there may come a day soon where AI allows us to understand and talk to whales. But some scientists are saying: the question may actually be, SHOULD we talk to whales?
Mustill, a wildlife filmmaker, became popular among whale enthusiasts and shared extraordinary stories from around the world, including whales singing to a submariner's ship and a pregnant female dolphin apparently scanning a book publisher.Mustill made a BBC documentary about humpback whales and wrote the book "How to Speak Whale," exploring scientific efforts to communicate with animals, especially cetaceans, and delving into profound scientific and philosophical depths.
These stories could fill a book, mustill first make a BBC documentary about humpback whales.know how to speak whales.
The history of human relations :
whales is mostly bloody and exploitative, but Mustill argues that science and technology helped change it for the better.One of many scientific heroes in his book is American researcher Roger Payne.In 1967, when commercial whaling was at its peak, Payne received recordings of whale sounds from the US navy, whose underwater listening stations were eavesdropping on Soviet submarines.
Payne was haunted by the beauty of the sounds, and by the fact that they repeated themselves.His 1971 Science paper on whale “song” was a blockbuster; Payne also released albums of humpback whale song, which moved millions of people.His science – and the power of song – chimed with the nascent environmental movement and Save the Whales became a sound of the 70s.Whale hunting was banned in US waters in 1972 and a decade later came a global moratorium on commercial whaling.Nevertheless, scientific attempts to communicate with animals are also fraught with gimmicks, eccentrics – the researcher who injected LSD into one of his study dolphins discredited the field for years – and heated debates over whether animal communication can ever be “language”.Mustill believes these old struggles will be ended by new technology.
After graduating in natural sciences at Cambridge University, he began his own scientific career by taking a fieldwork post in Mauritius, where he was tasked with monitoring the pink pigeon, working for Carl Jones, an inspirational biologist who defied scientific orthodoxies to captive-breed species on the brink of joining the dodo, saving them from extinction.Jones is a hero, but Mustill’s fieldwork was ill-fated – there was a cyclone and the pigeon pairs he watched failed to rear any young.Mustill concluded he could do more for conservation by becoming a filmmaker.Today, he’s excited that new technology is vastly improving the efficiency of conservation.
What have to speak with whales:
Scientists hope an LLM can be developed for whale.communication. Computers can also process sounds that are inaudible to human ears. Humans can hear sounds ranging from 20-20,000 Hz whereas dolphins can detect clicks, squeaks and other noises up to 160,000Hz.
Artificial intelligence is also much better at detecting nuances. Have a listen to this conversation between sperm whales. Our brains aren’t able to distinguish when one whale is speaking versus another, but (in theory) a computer could train itself to “hear” different voices.
Project CETI and Earth Species Project:
Two major nonprofit organisations are applying AI tools to animal communication: Project CET and Earth Species Project.
Project CETI received funding from the TED Audacious Prize and includes a team of experts from around the world. Currently, the organisation is focused on sperm whale communication. They’re collecting communication data from sperm whales in Dominica. As mentioned above, heaps of data are required to create an LLM.
The scientists and conservationists at Earth Species Project are using AI tools to decode, label and even reply to a variety of animal vocalisations, including beluga whales, chiff-chaffs, crows and humpbacks. ESP is also a co-founder of the Interspecies Internet community.
Conclusion:
At the end of the Blog the projects are in developing process. One day humans can speak with whales using AI.