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52 Ecology L.Q. 123 (2025)
What If We Understood What Animals Are Saying?: The Legal Impact of AI-Assisted Studies of Animal Communication

handle is hein.journals/eclawq52 and id is 128 raw text is: What if We Understood What Animals Are Saying?: The Legal Impact of AI-Assisted Studies of Animal Communication Cdsar Rodriguez-Garavito, * David F. Gruber,** Ashley Otilia Nemeth, *** & Gasper Begus***** This Article explores the burgeoning fields of artificial intelligence and bioacoustics and their potential to reshape nonhuman animal law. Historically, Western science dismissed nonhuman animal vocalizations as simple and lacking complexity. However, recent advancements in recording technology, artificial intelligence, and interdisciplinary collaborations have revealed that many species, from whales to honeybees, possess sophisticated communication systems. Pioneering projects, like Project Cetacean Translation Initiative's (CETI) work with sperm whales, are challenging long-held assumptions about animal communication and opening the door to new legal and ethical considerations. This Article examines the legal implications of understanding nonhuman animal communication by asking: If these initiatives succeed, how might the legal terrain be reshaped? Proving that cetaceans possess linguistic capacities would challenge the notion that language is exclusive to humans and could reshape legalframeworks, as seen in past reforms following discoveries about great apes. By demonstrating what is already possible, we set the stage for the forward-looking analyses that considers the impact of understanding the content of cetacean communication. DOI: 10.15779/Z383X83N5Q Copyright © 2025 Regents of the University of California. * Professor of Law and Chair of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law. Founding director ofthe More-Than-Human Rights (MOTH) Program, the Earth Rights Research & Action (TERRA) Clinic, and the Climate Law Accelerator at NYU Law. ** Distinguished Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences at the City University of New York, Baruch College, and the CUNY Graduate Center. National Geographic Explorer and the Founder and President of Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative). *** Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at the TERRA Clinic at NYU School of Law and Director of Programs at the NYU Climate Law Accelerator. ****Associate Professor at the Department of Linguistics at UC Berkeley and director of the Berkeley Biological and Artificial Language Lab. Linguistics Lead of Project CETI. + The authors would like to thank Ariel Flint, Shane Gero, Natalie Jacewicz, Emma Crowe, and Hazel Deng for their insightful comments and assistance. 123