Scientists involved in the CETI project-distinct from the SETI Institute-are exploring the intricate communication methods of whales. Their work aims to enhance our understanding of language models that exist within our own planet’s ecosystems.

In a recent TED talk, Pratyusha Sharma of CETI discussed the communication strategies employed by sperm whales. She highlighted how studying these methods could provide valuable insights into interspecies understanding and the nature of language itself. Sharma, a graduate student at CSAIL, collaborates with advisors such as Daniela Rus to further this research.

Understanding Whale Communication

Sharma used the analogy of potential alien communication to illustrate the complexities involved in deciphering non-human languages. She emphasized the importance of distinguishing CETI’s work from space-focused research.

“Communication is a key characteristic of intelligence,” Sharma explained. “Being able to create an infinite set of messages by sequencing together finite sets of sounds is what has distinguished human beings from other species.”

“Communication is a key characteristic of intelligence… what has distinguished human beings from other species.”

Insights into Earthly Languages

Sharma suggests that CETI’s research indicates that humans may not be the only species on Earth with sophisticated communication systems.

By studying these systems, she believes we can gain a deeper understanding of other species and refine our comprehension of human language.

She noted that countless life forms on Earth possess some form of language.

“They have their own physical and mental constraints, and are involved in their own unique ecosystems and societies,” Sharma said.”Though, we certainly know very little about – their communications.”

The challenge, therefore, lies in deciphering these communications.

Sharma detailed that CETI’s interdisciplinary team includes experts in linguistics, biology, cryptography, and AI. Additional background on the project can be found in this Smithsonian Magazine article.

The primary research locations are in the Dominican Republic and the broader Caribbean region.

The Evolutionary Timeline of Whale Communication

Sharma explained that sperm whales’ large brains have evolved over 16 million years, leading to complex social behaviors.

“The members of the family coordinate their dives, engage in extended periods of socialization, and even take turns babysitting each other’s young ones,” she said. “While coordinating in complete darkness, they exchange long sequences of sounds with one another.”

The central question is: what data are they conveying?

CETI researchers have identified 21 distinct types of “codas,” or call systems, each exhibiting a certain level of complexity.

“One of the key differentiators between human language and all animal communications is that lovely property called duality of patterning,” Sharma said.”It’s how a base set of individually meaningless elements sequence together to give rise to words, that in turn are sequenced together to give rise to an infinite space with complex meaning.”

She outlined the core principles guiding CETI’s efforts to understand whale communication.

“Getting to the point of understanding the communications of sperm whales will require us to understand what features of their (vocalizations) they control,” she stated.

Visualizing Whale Language

Sharma presented “coda visualizations” to illustrate how seemingly simple communications can correspond to intricate behaviors.

“(This) presented a fundamental mystery to researchers in the field,” she noted.

She demonstrated how CETI’s work enhances the structural understanding of a coda:

“Even though the clicks might not have sounded like music initially, when we plot them like this, they start to look like music,” she said, showcasing a combinatorial coda system. “they have different tempos and even different rhythm.”

According to Sharma, this reveals notable insights into the cognitive abilities of these marine mammals.

“The resulting set of individual sounds (in the coda) can represent 10 times more meanings than what was previously believed, showing that sperm whales can be much more expressive than what was previously thought,” she explained. “these systems are rare in nature, but not uniquely human. … these results open up the possibility that sperm whales’ communication might provide our first example of this phenomenon in another species. … this will allow us to use more powerful machine learning techniques to analyze the data, and perhaps get us closer to an understanding the meanings of their sounds – and maybe (we can) even communicate back.”

Sharma confirmed that the research is ongoing.

“Hopefully the algorithms and approaches we developed in the course of this project empower us to better understand the other species that we share this planet with,” she concluded.

This research holds considerable promise as we advance further into the age of AI.