Chicken chatter and ethical implications

Imagine walking into a barn and instead of hearing random clucks and squawks, you're privy to a conversation about likes, dislikes, and even emotional states. This isn't a scene from a children's book; it's the reality that researchers at Dalhousie University are uncovering through the power of artificial intelligence. The idea for this conversation came from a news release titled: Fowl language: Dalhousie University researcher uses AI to crack the code of clucks and unravel chicken chatter secrets, opening the door to an improved quality of life. Suresh Neethirajan is an associate professor and the University Research Chair in Digital Livestock Farming in Dalhousie's Faculty of Computer Science. In this conversation, he explains how he is applying artificial intelligence to chicken sounds from more than 30 poultry farms across North America and Europe, including birds with Avian flu and a wide range of health conditions. Using sophisticated machine learning algorithms, he has translated chickens' nonsensical sounds to specific words, like "Danger!" and "Fox!" For instance, he can now understand expressions of distress or a need for help in diseased chickens, much like a human saying, "I have to go to the hospital." Humourist Bill Carr posted a piece highlighting the ethical questions this raises and Dr. Neethirajan addresses some of them in this conversation.