Reading time: 2 minutes – Spotted on Science Focus
Because we evolved with dogs, we simply already know more about how they interact. According to Jean-Denis Vigne, researcher at the CNRS and the National Museum of Natural History, the domestication of dogs began 9,000 BC. A long-standing proximity which could well promote our ability to communicate with them in the future thanks to new technologies.
For veterinarian Jess French, AI-based communication could help us understand animals, as it could potentially be more sensitive to understanding body language and signals in cats, for example. It could even help us learn the language of species with which we have little or no emotional connection, such as snakes or fish.
She takes the example of the rabbit, an animal that is both a companion and a farm animal in France: “They are very good at hiding what they are feeling because they don’t want predators to know that they are hurt. So it might be helpful to be able to understand in different ways what is going on with them,” she tells BBC Science Focus, before turning to the case of cats.
Smell and hearing before sight
While humans primarily use sight, animals tend to navigate using smell and hearing. Research already shows that they modify their vocalizations when communicating with kittens and humans: “So we’re trying to figure out how to communicate with them, but they’ve already taken that step and that language to try to engage with us.”
According to Jess French, this progress “breathtaking” of AI could help us better understand animals not just local but around the world. Be careful though: they could transmit information to us that we do not necessarily want to hear. “Can you imagine hearing the story of an animal whose family and environment have been destroyed by humans? In that regard, I wish it could happen sooner, so people can hear these messages,” concludes the veterinarian.
