Penguin Books

Why animals talk…and can we translate what they say?

Thu 16 July

Sainsbury Laboratory

Talk Overview

All animals—and even many plants—communicate, but the complexity of what they “say” varies widely. This is shaped by evolutionary pressures: species with more complex social lives tend to develop richer communication systems, as sharing more information offers clear advantages. Rather than treating animal communication as a version of human language, this talk emphasises understanding each species’ adaptive needs to determine how much information they actually require to convey.

With growing interest in using AI to “translate” animal communication, it is crucial to first consider what animals need to communicate, and how they encode that information. Dr Kershenbaum explores questions around information content and signalling, challenging the assumption that human notions of “meaning” can be directly applied to other species. Animals may experience and interpret meaning in ways very different from linguistic humans.

The talk also examines whether traditional measures such as “complexity” are helpful indicators of language-like systems, and considers how meaning operates in graded communication signals, as seen in species like dolphins and wolves.

Speaker Background

Dr Arik Kershenbaum is an Associate Professor and Fellow of Girton College, University of Cambridge. A zoologist specialising in animal vocal communication, he conducts fieldwork on species including wolves, gibbons, dolphins and hyraxes. His research investigates the information content of animal calls and applies these insights to conservation.

He is the author of 'The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Why Animals Talk', which earned the Max Planck Group Science Communication Medal. Dr Kershenbaum studied at Cambridge, completed a PhD at the University of Haifa, held a postdoctoral fellowship in Tennessee, and later returned to Cambridge, where he received an ScD and is currently a College Teaching Officer at Girton College.

No booking required. Join in person at the Sainsbury Lab, Cambridge (47 Bateman St), or online via Zoom.

Cost: Free