A team of researchers has initiated a project with the aim to decode and communicate with sperm whales. The initiative is named Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), and its aim is to use AI to understand the language of whales, as per Hakai Magazine.
More specifically, the team is aiming to decode the clicking sounds sperm whales use to communicate with each other, also called “codas.” To achieve it, the scientists plan on using natural language processing (NLP), a sub-field of AI focused on processing written and spoken language.
Project CETI has an ambitious goal
The researchers have already applied sperm whale coda recordings to an NLP algorithm, with promising results. “They seemed to be working very well, at least with some relatively simple tasks,” said Michael Bronstein, the lead of machine learning for Project CETI.
As ambitious as the teams’ goals are, there is a big hurdle – they require data – and that too a lot of data. Project CETI’s first goal is to collect four billion sperm whale codas. The team currently aims to build off existing research by the Dominica Sperm Whale Project, which has collected less than 100,000 codas.
The team will also be required to put all of the codas into context since words without context won’t make any sense. And that’ll require years of research in sperm whale’s natural habitats. If this Project CETI manages to achieve its goal, it might be possible that a language model could be created to communicate in whale language. This could completely change the way humans interact with nature.
Changing the way we interact with nature
“If we discover that there is an entire civilization basically under our nose — maybe it will result in some shift in the way that we treat our environment,” Bronstein No Hakai. “And maybe it will result in more respect for the living world.”
Previously, using a combination of fluid dynamics and biomechanics, scientists from the University of Virginia have derived a formula that enables the robot with a specifically designed tail that is as good as a natural tail. They have developed a tuna-shaped robot that swims like an actual fish.
