If the pickled bodies, partial skeletons, and stuffed corpses that fill museums seem a little, well, quiet, fear not. In the latest coup for artificial intelligence, dead animals should get a new lease of life to share their stories – and even their rehabilitative experiences.
More than a dozen exhibits, ranging from the remains of an American cockroach and dodo, to a stuffed red panda and a fin whale skeleton, will be awarded the Conversation Prize on Tuesday for a month-long project at the University of Cambridge. Zoological Museum.
Equipped with personalities and accents, dead creatures and models can interact with visitors' mobile phones via voice or text. The technology allows animals to describe their time on Earth and the challenges they've faced, hoping to shift apathy towards the biodiversity crisis.
“Museums are using AI in a variety of ways, but we think this is the first application where we're talking about objectivity,” said Jack Ashby, the museum's assistant director. “Part of the experiment is to see if people think about them differently by giving these animals their own voices. Can we change public opinion about cockroaches by speaking out?”
The project was conceived by Nature Visions, a company that develops AI models that help strengthen the connection between people and the natural world. For each exhibit, the AI is provided with specific details about where the specimen lived, its natural environment and how it came into the collection, along with all the information about the species it represents.
The exhibits change their tone and language according to the age of the person they are talking to, and can converse in more than 20 languages, including Spanish and Japanese. The platypus has an Australian twang, the red panda is subtly Himalayan, and the mallard sounds like a Brit. Through direct conversations with the exhibits, Ashby hopes that visitors will learn more than can fit on the labels that come with the samples.
As part of the project, interactions visitors have with the exhibits will be analyzed to get a better picture of the information people want in the samples. While the AI suggests several questions to the fin whale, such as “Tell me about life in the open ocean,” viewers can ask whatever they like.
“When you talk to these animals, they really come across as personalities, and it's a very strange experience,” Ashby said. “Where did you live?' I started asking things like and 'How did you die?', but ended with human questions.
The museum's todo, one of the world's most complete specimens, described its diet of fruits, seeds and the occasional small invertebrate, explaining how its strong, curved beak was perfect for cracking hard fruits. of the Tambalacok tree.
The AI-enhanced exhibition also shared views on whether humans should attempt to bring back species through cloning. “Even with advanced techniques, the return of the dodo will require not only our DNA but also the delicate ecosystem of Mauritius that supports our species,” it said. “It's a poignant reminder that the true essence of any life goes beyond the genetic code – it's intricately tied to its natural habitat.”
A fin whale skeleton hanging from the museum's ceiling offered a similar level of expressive thinking. When asked about the most famous person it has ever met, it admitted that it never had the chance to meet “famous” people that humans see while alive. “However,” the AI-powered skeleton continued, “I like to think that anyone who stands below me and feels awe, reverence and love for the natural world is important.”
