Animals, like humans, experience a variety of emotional states. However, accurately recognizing these emotions can be quite challenging. A team of scientists has developed a tool using artificial intelligence that can distinguish emotions among several biological species with high precision.
Many contemporary studies in the field of biology focus on the emotional states of animals. The authors of one study have proven that our smaller brethren are indeed capable of experiencing emotions, while another study explored what a dog feels when interacting with humans.
Specialists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Harvard University in the USA have created an artificial intelligence model that determines emotions based on vocalizations—characteristic sounds made by animals—with an accuracy of 89 percent. The results of their work were published in the scientific journal IScience.
The authors analyzed thousands of sound signals from cows, goats, horses, Przewalski's horses (the only wild horse species), sheep, pigs, and wild boars. Among the most significant indicators for distinguishing positive and negative emotions were changes in the duration of vocalizations, fundamental frequency, and amplitude characteristics. Notably, these indicators were similar across different species, leading scientists to suggest that the primary ways of expressing emotions vocally may have been evolutionarily preserved.
The researchers trained the artificial intelligence model on the collected data and tasked it with classifying vocalizations based on the emotions they convey. The accuracy of the resulting "animal emotion decoder" was found to be 89.49%.
“Understanding how animals express emotions can help us improve their well-being. If we can detect stress or discomfort at an early stage, we can intervene before it escalates. Equally important is that we could also encourage positive emotions. This would change the game for animal protection,” noted the authors of the scientific article.
The researchers hope they have taken a step closer to a future where technology enables humans to understand and respond to animal emotions. This would open new possibilities not only for conservation efforts but also for scientific advancement.