A few weeks back I did a column on roosters, more specifically, fighting cocks. Today, I’m giving equal time to a breakthrough story on chickens.
According to an article in Business Insider, researchers in Japan said they’d developed an AI (artificial intelligence) system that could understand the clucks and consequently the emotional state of chickens. The study, led by University of Tokyo professor Adrian David Cheok, has yet to be peer-reviewed. Mainly because peers think the whole thing is goofy.
The AI listen-to-your-chicken system is based on something researchers call “‘Deep Emotional Analysis Learning,’ a mathematical and innovative approach that allows for the nuanced understanding of emotional states through auditory data.” (That means some clucks can be more than clucks, they can be suicidal thoughts.) Yes, the system can reveal “various emotional states” in chickens, not just “are we going to live in these damn coups forever!” Every cluck about hunger, fear, anger, contentment, excitement, and distress can be exposed, with only libelous barnyard prostitution scandals restricted.
“If we know what animals are feeling, we can design a much better world for them,” Cheok told the New York Post. Right. We’ll include their input in our cooking methods.
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