Researchers use AI to study dolphin sounds and attempt responses

In short: A dolphin research team is using AI to spot patterns in dolphin sounds and is testing early, simple ways to “talk back” underwater.

What happened

Denise Herzing, founder and director of the Wild Dolphin Project, says recent AI tools are helping her team make more sense of decades of dolphin recordings. She first began studying Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas in 1985, and her group has since collected many hours of underwater audio and video.

Herzing said the team is working with scientists at Georgia Tech and Google DeepMind to give structure to what dolphins might be communicating. AI here means computer programs that can scan large piles of data and find repeating patterns, a bit like noticing that certain phrases show up often in a long set of conversations.

The group has also tried basic two-way communication. Researchers used a wearable underwater computer that can play specific dolphin-like sounds. They paired certain sounds with objects or places, like a scarf or sargassum (a type of seaweed), then acted out the meaning to see how dolphins responded.

Why it matters

This work is still far from a real back-and-forth conversation. One big problem is telling the difference between a dolphin copying a sound and a dolphin understanding what the sound is for. Herzing also noted that even if researchers can map patterns, they still have to figure out what those patterns mean in “dolphin culture,” which is hard to confirm in the open ocean.

If the research progresses, it could improve how scientists study animal communication and behavior. It may also shape how people think about protecting ocean habitats, since understanding another species can make environmental damage feel more personal.

Source: Wired