Babbage from The Economist (subscriber edition) Ruff translation, part one: do animals have language?
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Feb 12, 2025 Join Robert Berwick, a computational linguist from MIT, Federico Rossano, a cognitive science expert at UC San Diego, and Abby Bertics, a researcher specializing in non-human intelligence. They dive into the fascinating world of animal communication, comparing it to human language. The conversation explores whether animals possess their own languages and challenges our understanding of communication across species. Discover how AI could help decode these complex signals, reshaping our view of intelligence in the animal kingdom.
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Tubby the Cat
- Kenneth Cukier discusses a recent interview at his house, featuring his cat, Tubby.
- Tubby's vocalizations and glares seem communicative, raising questions about animal language.
Animal Communication Study
- Anthropomorphism vs. dismissing animal communication as simple are two extremes.
- A new large-scale study challenges established ideas about animal language.
Berwick's Definition of Language
- Bob Berwick argues against projecting human language onto animals (the "Dr. Doolittle effect").
- He defines language as internal, structured expressions within our minds, externalized through speech or gesture.