AI & Animal Cognition
Articles on animal behavior, cognition, and comparative psychology examined through the lens of artificial intelligence research — including studies that inform human-animal interaction, social learning, and decision-making in non-human species.
The Impact of AI on Human Psychology: Exploring What Distinguishes Human Language From Animal Communication
An exploration of how artificial intelligence is reshaping our understanding of human psychology through the lens of language capabilities. Examines three key features that distinguish true language from mere word use—rule-based grammar, generativity, and arbitrariness—and what these mean for AI's ability to understand human cognition.
Minding the Wild: Why Ethology Is Essential to Understanding Animal Sentience
Cognitive ethology — the patient, in-habitat study of wild animals' thoughts and feelings — reveals behavioral flexibility as a mark of consciousness. Building on Tinbergen's four questions and Burghardt's fifth aim of "private experience," this article explains why slow watching of wild animals in their natural habitats is irreplaceable for understanding what they think, feel, and adapt to.