Rachel Feltman: Hey there, folks! It’s your girl Rachel Feltman reporting for Scientific American’s Science Quickly. So, I’m sure we can all agree that there are some animals that pretty much everyone loves, right? Fluffy pandas, cute kittens, and regal tigers definitely make the list. Oh, and let’s not forget about dolphins! They’re intelligent, playful, and always seem to have a smile on their faces. But have you ever wondered what goes on in their heads? Like, seriously, what are these guys thinking? Well, turns out, scientists have been pondering the same thing. But could we actually get inside the minds of dolphins? And what if we could chat back with them?
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If you’re digging this article, think about showing some love for our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By snagging a subscription, you’re helping to keep those impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas that are shaping our world today coming. Freelance ocean writer Melissa Hobson has been diving deep into a new project that’s making waves – pun totally intended – in the media. It’s being billed as the first large language model, or LLM, for dolphin vocalizations. Can you imagine actually having a convo with dolphins? Let’s hear what Melissa has to spill on this.
Melissa Hobson: So, you know that moment when you dip your head under the waves at the beach and everything goes quiet? Yeah, the ocean may seem silent, but it’s actually buzzing with noise. And guess who’s making a lot of that noise? Dolphins! If you’ve ever been in the water with these creatures or seen them on TV, you know they’re always chattering, chirping, clicking, and squeaking away. These smart mammals use vocalizations as a key form of communication. Thea Taylor, a marine biologist and managing director of the Sussex Dolphin Project, is all about dolphin communication. She’s not part of the dolphin LLM project, but she’s hyped about how AI models like this could level up our understanding of dolphin talk. Dolphins have a wide range of acoustic communication, from whistles for chit-chat to clicks for navigation, and burst pulses for intense social situations. The big brains in the science world have been trying for ages to crack the code on how dolphins use sound to communicate and what those sounds actually mean. Each dolphin even has its own signature whistle, which is basically like its name. But what else can these clever creatures convey through their chitter-chatter? Arik Kershenbaum, a zoologist at the University of Cambridge, knows his stuff when it comes to animal communication, especially among predators like dolphins. He’s not part of the dolphin LLM gig, but he’s all in on the potential of this tech to shed light on dolphin convos. Arik thinks we still have a lot to learn about how dolphins communicate and cooperate using language. The science world has amassed loads of data on dolphin vocalizations over the years, but sifting through all that info manually takes ages. That’s where AI swoops in to save the day. AI can process data way faster than us humans and spot patterns that might slip by us. And that’s exactly what the DolphinGemma team is aiming for with their AI project. This large language model for dolphin vocalizations is a collab between Google, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Wild Dolphin Project. The Wild Dolphin Project has been studying Atlantic spotted dolphins for 40 years, collecting acoustic data used to train DolphinGemma. So, what’s the AI model cooking up that has everyone buzzing? Well, it turns out that DolphinGemma whipped up a dolphin-like sound that even stumped the experts. Thad Starner, a professor at Georgia Tech and research scientist at Google DeepMind, and Denise Herzing, founder of the Wild Dolphin Project, spilled the deets on how the LLM is changing the game. The AI model managed to create a particular type of sound that had eluded Thad and his crew using traditional computer programs. Could this unique dolphin sound be the key to cracking the code on communicating with these ocean pals? Thad was blown away by how DolphinGemma nailed those hard-to-replicate VCM3 sounds. These VCM Type 3 sounds are a twist on the burst pulses we mentioned earlier. Denise dove into the details, explaining how the spotted dolphins they work with prefer to mimic sounds using clicks. And DolphinGemma hit the jackpot by generating these elusive VCM3 sounds that had stumped the researchers. The AI isn’t just cranking out cool dolphin noises; it’s also helping the team understand how dolphins complete sequences of sounds. It’s like when you start typing in Google and it tries to finish your sentence for you. This AI magic could give us a peek into what dolphins might be trying to convey with their clicks and whistles. By analyzing these sequences, the researchers hope to uncover patterns that could unlock the mysteries of dolphin communication. Denise and her team are even testing the waters with a technology called CHAT, which stands for cetacean hearing augmented telemetry. This tech allows researchers to label different items with sounds and see how dolphins react. The goal? To see if dolphins can associate specific sounds with different objects and ask for them using their own unique noises. Could we be unintentionally training dolphins, like teaching a dog to sit? Thea raises a valid point about whether the animals truly understand language or if they’re just associating sounds with rewards. It’s a fine line between real communication and Pavlovian responses. And let’s not forget about the age-old question: do dolphins actually have a language? Arik isn’t entirely convinced. He points out that while dolphins can distinguish between objects by their sounds, that’s a far cry from having a full-fledged language. Language is a complex and resource-intensive skill that only evolves if it offers some evolutionary advantage. Arik isn’t sold on the idea that dolphins have a language in the same way humans do. But hey, who knows what we might uncover as we dive deeper into dolphin communication. While chatting with Flipper might still be a distant dream, researchers are hopeful that AI could open up new avenues for understanding dolphin chatter. Even if we don’t end up having full-on conversations with these sea creatures, the insights we gain could reshape how we view and protect them. So, let’s stay tuned and see where this dolphin dialogue leads us! And hey, remember to fill out our listener survey for a chance to score some sweet SciAm swag. Alright, that’s a wrap for this week’s Friday Fascination. We’re taking a breather on Monday for Memorial Day, but catch us again on Wednesday for more mind-blowing science updates. This is Rachel Feltman signing off for Science Quickly. Have an epic weekend, y’all!
