Talking to animals has long been a human fantasy. But what is the nature of animal communication—and how does chirping and barking differ from human language? This is the first episode in a two-part series about animal communication and whether it could be translated in the age of AI. We meet a researcher who is leading the largest animal communication study ever attempted, and we ask whether language is a cognitive ability that’s unique to humans, or just one of many modes of communication dotted across the tree of life. 

Host: Kenneth Cukier, The Economist’s deputy executive editor. Contributors: Robert Berwick of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Federico Rossano of the University of California, San Diego; and The Economist’s Abby Bertics.

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