THE INTERSPECIES INTERNET?

Unique project to advance interspecies communication hosts first public event

Landmark conference, hosted by Interspecies I/O* with support from the Coller Foundation, Google and MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms will discuss the future of communication between cognitive species.

• Conference to announce Coller Prize for Interspecies Conversation and inaugural Hall of Fame

• Key area of focus is to build a multidisciplinary community of scientists to:

• Create interfaces to enable two-way communication

• Develop interactive systems to provide greater choice and control

• Apply big data to decode animal communication signals

• Archive scientific research on interspecies communication, creating an on-line open source dictionary of known semantic signals of other animals

• Develop interactive educational software focusing on other animal communication, conservation and welfare

(Wed 08 July, London). Interspecies I/O, an initiative created to explore, encourage and facilitate communication between cognitive species, will hold its first public event on 18 July 2020.  

The group, which includes Peter Gabriel (musician and activist), Dr. Vint Cerf (Vice President at Google and Co-designer of the Internet), Dr. Diana Reiss (Professor at Hunter College, cognitive psychologist and marine mammal scientist), and Dr. Neil Gershenfeld (head of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms) came together for an Interspecies Internet TED talk in 2013 “The interspecies internet? An idea in progress” and seeks to explore the future of communication between cognitive species using the Internet and other forms of interactivity and technology. 

The conference aims to highlight and promote the importance of interspecies communication, and what we know of their own natural forms of communication, furthering the understanding of those key concepts that will make it possible.

The day itself will feature speakers such as ecologist Carl Safina, technologist and novelist Jonathan Ledgard and prominent author and speaker on animal behaviour, Temple Grandin, hosting a multidisciplinary group of researchers in the areas of animal cognition and communication, neuroscience, anthropology, AI and computer sciences, philosophers, artists and musicians. Contributors will share and debate research, thoughts and ideas about interspecies communication and approaches to deciphering the signals of other animals.

To aid further advancement in this field, the conference will announce the Coller Prize for Interspecies Conversation and the first inductees into the Hall of Fame, a permanent and regularly updated public resource to grow the discipline of interspecies communication and inform and celebrate those that have led, and who are leading, the field. 

The Prize is designed to drive meaningful progress in the field of interspecies communication and

establish a global multi-disciplinary community, inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, technology developers and artists in this area of science.

During the day, the attendees will also hear from a number of leading experts on their work to date, future opportunities and the progress already being made.

Dr. Diana Reiss, a co-founder of Interspecies.io said,

“The challenges are vast, but we are taking steps to understand how the internet and broader interactive interfaces could help us interact and communicate with other animal minds. Our ambition is to provide them with a voice through which they have more choice and control - extending Google Translate to help us decode and understand the meaning of the signals used by other animals.”

“Harnessing technology to facilitate communication with other animals and helping us decode the myriad forms of communication used by other species is a challenge that both befits humanity and benefits us in the long run.”

Dr. Vint Cerf, Vice President at Google and a co-founder of Interspecies.io said,

“When the founders of the internet first built the World Wide Web they thought they were connecting computers together, in fact they were connecting people together. Now we have opened the door to the possibility of communication beyond our own and to other animals.”

Jeremy Coller, Coller Prize for Interspecies Conversation, added:

"The Rosetta Stone unlocked the secrets of ancient Egypt.  Equally, the vision for the Coller Prize is to seek out the conversation algorithm that will unlock in ourselves a greater sense of respect and understanding for those other animals with whom we share our planet, so we no longer see them simply as objects and possessions."

"Following the internet of things, perhaps the next stage in our learning could be to create the internet of all living things.”

* Interspecies I/O is the initiative that comprises Interspecies Conversation conference and events series and Interspecies Internet infrastructure project.

The public event will be held on Saturday 18 July and delegates can join via the Interspecies.io website. 

Notes to editor

• For more information please contact:

  For Registration

  Will Davis, Coller Foundation 

  T: +447814052865 | will.davis@jeremycollerfoundation.org

• For Media

  Sophie Grant

  ESG Communications

  T: +44 (0)7817 371323 | sophie@esgcomms.com

• The Interspecies.io event 2020 is co-hosted by Jeremy Coller Foundation, MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms and Google. For background information please see the TED talk by the four founders of Interspecies I/O.
  

• Details of the 2019 Interspecies Internet Workshop co-hosted by the Coller Foundation, Google and MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms can be found here.