MINDS CDT student explores the challenges of deciphering alien languages
MINDS CDT student Olaf Lipinski recently explored a fascinating question: Could we ever decipher an alien language? In an article published in The Conversation, Olaf dives into the complexities of understanding extraterrestrial communication, proposing that advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) may hold the key.
The Conversation is a leading online publication featuring insights from academic experts. Olaf's article discusses the potential of AI systems to help decode alien languages by analysing how AI agents develop communication protocols when solving tasks together, a process that may offer parallels to how we might interpret unfamiliar or non-human languages.
In The Conversation article, Olaf Lipinski explores the potential for AI to help decode alien languages. He explains that deciphering non-human languages—whether extraterrestrial or artificial—requires understanding how meaning is formed without shared experience or context. AI agents can create their own languages by collaborating on tasks requiring communication, which researchers can study to uncover general principles of language. By examining how AI develops “representations of meaning”, we might gain insight into recognising structure and meaning in alien communication. This approach could bridge the gaps between human cognition and unfamiliar, possibly non-human, linguistic frameworks.
Olaf will be presenting outcomes of his PhD research on this topic at the 38th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2024), taking place 10-15 December 2024 in Vancouver, Canada.
Through the MINDS CDT, students like Olaf are at the forefront of exploring AI’s potential to bridge gaps in human knowledge, whether those gaps are found in distant galaxies or within our own advanced technologies. This work exemplifies the unique, interdisciplinary opportunities the CDT offers for students keen on unravelling AI’s most enigmatic challenges.