After hundreds of hours of training, researchers succeeded in making an artificial intelligence understand the “language” of chickens. And, the potential would be greater than it seems.
Have you ever dreamed of communicating more easily with an animal? In any case, it is that of Adrian David Cheok, professor at the University of Tokyo, who looked into the case of our favorite poultry. The researcher, best known for his work on human-machine interactions, teamed up with eight animal and veterinary psychologists to analyze and classify 200 hours of chicken sounds. The result ? A translator accessible to all humanity.
A precedent for the “ inter-species communication »
You may not have known this, but it is possible to identify a hen’s emotion by listening to it. It’s not just fear, but also anger, contentment, excitement, distress, and of course, hunger. At least that’s what Cheok’s team says, which used this knowledge base to train an AI. After being supplied with 100 hours of already cataloged recordings, it was tested on around a hundred hours of additional sounds.
“ Our methodology uses a cutting-edge AI technique we call Deep Emotional Analysis Learning (DEAL) “, explains Cheok, ” an innovative and highly mathematical approach that allows for a nuanced understanding of emotional states based on auditory data “. And the results seem positive, since in 80% of cases, they correspond to the researchers’ observations.
Which is not to displease the professor at the origin of the study, who considers that it is a “ big step forward for science “. Indeed, this technique could be adapted to other animals and “ setting a precedent for further studies of AI-driven cross-species communication “.
While waiting to know if the coypu say “ chocolate bread ” Or ” chocolatine », Cheok’s team plans to create a free application allowing breeders to better identify the emotions of their chickens. A very useful tool, because these beasts are not as stupid as they seem, and would even be ” very social animals ”, according to the researchers.
Source : New York Post
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