Imagine this: you walk into a room, and your dog is on a video call with their fellow canine friends. Computer scientist Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas thinks the notion of a social internet for animals is not far off. She explores what happens when animals control their own technology — from parrots making friends online to monkeys choosing their favorite audio tracks — and shows how this technology transforms our understanding of animal consciousness.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch.Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyouTEDSports: ted.com/sportsTEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-viennaTEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. I never thought I'd see the day where I walk into the room and see my one-year-old golden retriever, Oscar, video chatting with a friend who's also a golden retriever.
It might make some people laugh, but for computer scientist Ilyena Herskij-Douglas, the notion of a social internet for animals isn't far off and is one she's actively exploring. In her talk, she shares why giving animals access to technology can make their lives better. and why animals are more socially aware than we think.
Many of you out here will have a dog at home that's potentially cut off and isolated from anyone right now. We as people have managed to bridge this divide just with a quick swipe of our phone, able to contact a loved one with video call or a telephone call. My research asks, what if we do the same for animals? What if we allow animals to use the internet and connect online?
Now, you may be laughing and think this is a really strange idea, but many of us already use technology with our pets. Many people here will have collars which have trackers on, able to detect where their dog or cat is at any point. And we as researchers often use screen technologies and various different sorts of technologies to monitor and measure animals' cognition and behavior.
When we start to think about it, we actually control a lot of our animals' lives. We control what they eat, we control where they go, we control what activities they do, and we even control their friends and who they see. What if we could instead use technology to flip this script?
What if we could use technologies to enable animals to have choice over their lives and control, including their social life? So I began this journey when I was 21, and I got my dog, Zach, who you can see here. At the time, I was studying a master's in computer science. I got really into building Arduino and Raspberry Pi and low-fidelity computer technology.
And I was sitting one day on the sofa with my dog, and I started to think, what if he could also control the TV with me when we were watching it together? What if, as well as me changing the channel, my dog could do the same? And importantly, would this even be what a dog would want? And so I began to build my dog and many different other dogs' computer devices.
I began building these screen devices that detect when a dog gets close and then plays them different sorts of videos. After using this device with various different dogs, what I found is that all dogs introduced to this device would use this without any form of training. While why they use it, we really don't know why they would use this device.
We don't know if they understand the device, but to keep using it implies some level of enrichment, some level of understanding. Later on, I then moved to Finland, in Helsinki, and I was visiting the zoo, and I started to realize that many other zoo animals also have little control over their lives. And so I expanded my work, and I started working with white-faced Saki monkeys.
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