Google Is Building a Bridge to Talk with Dolphins – Using AI
Imagine talking to dolphins—actually understanding them, responding, maybe even building a shared vocabulary. What used to sound like pure science fiction is now on the radar, thanks to a groundbreaking move by Google. In collaboration with Georgia Tech and the Wild Dolphin Project, Google has introduced DolphinGemma, an AI model built to decode dolphin communication. And yes, it’s as futuristic as it sounds.
For decades, marine researchers have been recording dolphin sounds—clicks, whistles, squawks—with the hope of cracking their underwater language. The Wild Dolphin Project, running the longest continuous dolphin study since 1985, has gathered mountains of vocal data from Atlantic spotted dolphins. Now, AI is finally powerful enough to sift through that data and make real sense of it.
DolphinGemma is trained to do just that. With around 400 million parameters under the hood, this model doesn’t just listen—it learns. It can identify patterns, predict what sound might come next, and even generate new dolphin-like vocal sequences. It’s like ChatGPT, but for dolphins.
The potential here is massive. With help from Google Pixel smartphones—yes, the same ones you carry in your pocket—scientists can now record, analyse, and even interact with dolphins in real time. Google Pixel phones power both DolphinGemma’s analysis and the CHAT system, which allows researchers to build simple “shared words” with dolphins. Imagine a dolphin mimicking a sound to request its favorite toy—that’s the kind of interaction this system is already enabling.
What’s even more exciting? Google plans to open-source DolphinGemma this summer, making it available to researchers worldwide. That means scientists studying whales, porpoises, and other marine mammals can adapt this tool for their own species-specific work.
We’re not just eavesdropping on nature anymore. We’re learning how to talk back. And with every whistle and click, we’re getting closer to one of humanity’s oldest dreams—speaking with another intelligent species on this planet.
