Researchers are testing whether large language models could help people talk with dolphins. Denise Herzing, founder and director of the Wild Dolphin Project, is using AI to sort audio and video footage of dolphins, aiming to learn what the animals are saying to each other. The project tests the idea on real animal recordings rather than theory.
Large language models already communicate with people in dozens of languages every day. Now researchers are asking whether the same technology could help people talk with dolphins.
What Is the Wild Dolphin Project Doing With AI?
Denise Herzing, the founder and director of the Wild Dolphin Project, is using AI to help her team sort through audio and video footage of the marine mammals. The recordings are the raw material for a question that has long frustrated animal researchers: what are dolphins saying to each other?
Can AI Help People Talk With Dolphins?
The idea rests on a simple premise. If language models can find patterns in human speech and map them onto meaning, they might be able to do something similar with dolphin vocalizations. Herzing's project is testing that premise on real animal recordings rather than on theory.
WIRED reporter Kate Taylor, who covers the future of work, reported on the effort. The story is part of a broader look at how AI tools are being applied beyond people, into fields where the data is messy and the answers are not yet known.
This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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