John Dolittle is a fantasy character, an unusual doctor created by author Hugh Lofting over a century ago to entertain his children, who is known for his ability to converse with animals. In a short time, this ability may go beyond literary fiction and become reality. Although humanity has always dreamed of communicating with dogs and cats and has taken some steps to achieve this, this effort has now gained momentum: a competition with prizes of up to $10 million to those who can turn dreams into reality. Flying fantasies.

The name of the prize? The Coller Dolittle Challenge, of course.

From fantasy to science. That’s what the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University are aiming for with their latest joint proposal: the ‘Coller Dolittle Challenge for Two-Way Communication Between Species,’ a competition with a name that leaves little room for deception. Its aim is to achieve, with the help of science and generative artificial intelligence (AI), something very similar to what Dr. Dolittle did in the pages of Lofting: communicate with animals.

The goal is not new. In fact, there have been researchers studying the language of whales and elephants for years, and even puzzling questions like the different facial expressions of cats or whether a dog can distinguish between two languages. The challenge is exciting and has already borne fruit.

So how do you want to achieve this? To encourage and support scientists who are dedicated to research in this area. And in a very meaningful way: by distributing significant funds. The organizers of the ‘Coller Dolittle Challenge’ will award a $10 million prize to the team that stands out in the race to understand how other animals communicate and also manages to “crack the code of two-way communication” between species.

There will be more incentives. While the grand prize is a proposed $10 million capital investment prize that can be exchanged for a $500,000 cash payment, the organizers will also be offering $100,000 in prizes each year for five years to encourage and support those researchers who have made the most significant advances.

Communicate without being invasive. Those who want to be eligible for the first of these $100,000 checks can submit their work until July 31. Of course, they will have to meet a number of conditions. Not just any work will do. What the organizers of the Coller-Dollite challenge are looking for is a “non-invasive approach” to communicating with other creatures and “deciphering their communication.”

Rigorous, versatile… and most importantly, provableIf the organizers insist on one thing, it is that they are looking for “rigorous” studies with verifiable results that would allow “the deciphering, linking or mimicking of the communication” of other species. They also set two key conditions for verifying its effectiveness: The communication must be demonstrated in different situations, such as when the animal is hunting, mating or searching for food, and the response must be “measurable.”

Considering artificial intelligenceThe goal is ambitious, but the Jeremy Coller Foundation has made it clear that it is confident in the possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI), especially its graduate language models (Major Language ModelsArtificial intelligence has helped us better understand how bats, whales, dogs, cats, or elephants communicate. In fact, a recent study from the University of Colorado suggested that African elephants use special names to call each other.

“The scientific committee that evaluates the award entrants expects to communicate with non-human organisms in the style of the ‘Turing test’, where the animal communicates autonomously without realizing it is communicating with humans. Artificial intelligence could play a significant role. The foundation notes its role in developing interfaces to interpret this communication.

In a wide range“We are open to any organism and any method, from acoustic communication in whales to chemistry in worms,” he explains. Guardian Yossi Yovel is a professor at Tel Aviv University and the chairman of the prize. He has also been involved in bat research. “The scientific community’s understanding of the communication patterns of non-human organisms has advanced rapidly in recent years,” says the Tel Aviv expert. “I hope the global scientific community will embrace the challenge and opportunity that this prize offers.”

The foundation’s president, Jeremy Coller, goes further, hinting at his great hope for AI to facilitate communication: “Just as the Rosetta Stone revealed the secrets of hieroglyphs, I believe the power of AI can help us decipher interspecies relationships through conversation.”

Pictures | Xan Griffin (Unsplash) and Charlie Green (Unsplash)

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