{"id":9357,"date":"2024-10-24T15:04:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T15:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/24\/scientists-say-they-can-use-ai-to-understand-what-pigs-are-saying\/"},"modified":"2024-10-24T15:04:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T15:04:37","slug":"scientists-say-they-can-use-ai-to-understand-what-pigs-are-saying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/24\/scientists-say-they-can-use-ai-to-understand-what-pigs-are-saying\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists say they can use AI to understand what pigs are saying"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Oink oink?” “Yes, of course.”<\/p>\n

Communication with pigs may soon be possible as scientists say they have developed an AI tool that can interpret what the animals are saying.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

While it’s not quite Doctor Doolittle, the algorithm is capable of decoding pig sounds and could potentially alert farmers to negative emotions, researchers say.<\/p>\n

It’s hoped the tool can help improve animal welfare.<\/p>\n

The scientists, from universities in Denmark<\/strong>, Germany<\/strong>, Switzerland<\/strong>, France<\/strong>, Norway <\/strong>and the Czech Republic<\/strong>, used thousands of recorded pig sounds from different scenarios to build the algorithm.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Scenarios include play, isolation and competition for food, and they found that that grunts, oinks, and squeals reveal positive or negative emotions.<\/p>\n

“Emotions of animals are central to their welfare, but we don’t measure it much on farms,” says study co-leader Elodie Mandel-Briefer, a behavioural biologist at University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

The study found that pigs kept in outdoor, free-range or organic farms, with the ability to roam and dig in the dirt, produced fewer stress calls than conventionally raised pigs.<\/p>\n

Researchers think this method could one day be used to label farms, helping consumers make informed choices.<\/p>\n

“Once we have the tool working, farmers can have an app on their phone that can translate what their pigs are saying in terms of emotions,” Ms Mandel-Briefer said.<\/p>\n

So what do the sounds mean? Let’s have a look at some of the study’s findings.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Short grunts typically indicate positive emotions
\u2022 Long grunts often signal discomfort
\u2022 High-frequency sounds like screams or squeals usually mean the pigs are stressed<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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