Herzing Team Uses 40 Years of Data to Map Dolphin Language With AI

1 articles · Updated · WIRED · Nov 5

Forty years after Denise Herzing began studying Atlantic spotted dolphins, her team says AI is finally helping organize vast audio and video records into patterns that could reveal how dolphins communicate.
Georgia Tech and Google DeepMind are working with the Wild Dolphin Project to give structure to clicks and whistles, though Herzing said the effort has not reached full translation.
An underwater wearable computer has already been used to test two-way exchanges by pairing specific sounds with objects such as a scarf or habitats like sargassum, then tracking dolphin responses.
The main hurdle is separating mimicry from real understanding in the wild, a problem Herzing said may require sanctuary or other controlled settings before genuine conversation becomes possible.
What those signals mean inside dolphin culture remains unresolved, leaving the project as much about interpreting context and behavior as about decoding sounds.