Could an Orca Give a TED Talk? | Karen Bakker | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

So we're in the middle of a fierce debate

現在，大家都在激烈辯論

about how artificial intelligence will change human society.

人工智慧會如何改變人類社會。

But have you thought about how AI will transform

但你可曾想過，人工智慧會如何轉變

your relationship to the non-human world?

你和非人類世界之間的關係？

So these are bioacoustic recorders.

這些是生物聲學記錄器。

And I've spent years studying how scientists use devices like this,

我已經花了數年的時間，研究 科學家如何運用像這樣的裝置，

combined with AI,

和人工智慧結合，

to listen to the hidden sounds of nature

來聆聽大自然隱藏的聲音 並譯解非人類的溝通。

and decode non-human communication.

Hidden sounds,

隱藏的聲音，因為 大自然中大部分的聲學溝通

because much acoustic communication in nature

occurs in the high ultrasound, above your hearing range,

都是用高頻超音波，

高過你能聽見的範圍，

or in the deep infrasound, below your hearing range.

要不然就是用深層的次聲波，

低於你能聽到的範圍。

So I'm going to play a sound.

我現在要播放一段聲音。

I want you to listen and try to guess who or what this is.

請大家聆聽，並猜猜看 它是來自誰／什麼。

(Chirping sound)

（啾啾聲）

So that was a bat.

那是蝙蝠，

That was bat ultrasound, recorded above your hearing range,

我們錄下高過人類 聽覺範圍的蝙蝠超音波，

but slowed down so you could hear.

再把它放慢，讓大家能聽見。

So that was an advertisement call from the peak of the mating season.

那是交配季節高峰時的宣傳叫聲。

Scientists can decode these calls,

科學家可以譯解這些叫聲，

so a sample bat to English translation would be, and I quote,

如果把這個蝙蝠語樣本 翻譯為英文，以下為引述：

"Pay attention.

「注意。

我是一隻納氏伏翼屬蝙蝠，公的。

I'm a Pipistrellus nathusii bat, specifically male.

My name is X. I am landing here

我叫 X，我降落在這裡，

and we share a common social identity and common communication pool."

我們有共同的社會身分 和共同的溝通圈。

For a pickup line by a bat, not bad.

就蝙蝠來說，這樣的 泡妞台詞算不錯了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So scientists have recorded millions of bat vocalizations like this

科學家已經錄到了數百萬段 這種由蝙蝠發出的聲音，

and they've decoded many of them using AI.

很多是用人工智慧來譯解的。

And they've revealed that bats have dialects

從中發現，蝙蝠俠也有方言，

that they pass down from one generation to the next,

由一代傳給下一代，

and that baby bats learn to speak just like you did,

而蝙蝠寶寶學說話的方式和你一樣，

by listening to the adults around them

聽牠們周圍的成年蝙蝠，

and babbling back until they speak adult bat.

牙牙學語模糊地亂說， 直到能說出成年蝙蝠語。

So bats have far more complex communication than we knew,

蝙蝠的溝通遠比 我們所知道的還要複雜，

and they're only one of many examples.

且牠們只是許多例子的其中一個。

Listen to this.

聽聽這個。

(Melodic chirping sounds)

（有弦律的唧唧聲）

So those are orcas who live right here in the Salish Sea.

這些是虎鯨的聲音， 牠們就住在這裡的薩利希海。

Scientists can decode individual orca calls using AI

科學家可以用人工智慧 譯解個別虎鯨的叫聲，

and they've revealed that orcas also pass down their dialects

他們發現，虎鯨也會把方言傳下去，

from one generation to the next.

從一代傳給下一代。

So it turns out

結果發現，

that orcas and bats are not the only creatures that make ultrasound.

生物中不只有虎鯨和蝙蝠 會發出超音波。

Moths, mice, beetles, rats.

還有蛾、鼠類、甲蟲。

Even some of our smaller primate cousins like this tarsier.

甚至我們有一些小型靈長類 表親也能，比如這種眼鏡猴。

At the other end, in the deep infrasound,

有些生物則會發出 另一極端的深層次聲波，

elephants and whales,

如大象和鯨魚，

tigers and some birds make sound.

老虎和一些鳥類也能發出這類聲音。

So when we first learned about these secret sounds of the world,

我們初次知道世界上 有這些隱密的聲音時，

we're often surprised because humans tend to believe

我們通常很驚訝，

因為人類通常會認為 我們感知不到的就不存在。

that what we cannot perceive does not exist.

And so we miss a lot.

所以我們會錯失很多。

One of my favorite examples is this peacock.

我個人最愛的例子之一 就是這隻孔雀。

So to you, this looks like a visual mating display.

在各位看起來這就像是 交配的視覺展現，也的確是。

And it is.

But this peacock is also making very loud infrasound with its tail,

但這隻孔雀也在用牠的尾巴 製造非常大的次聲，

which you cannot hear, but female peahens can.

各位聽不見，但雌孔雀可以。

且這是牠們做出交配 決策的重要考量因子。

And it is an important factor in their mating decisions.

So this peacock is giving a rock concert.

這隻孔雀在搞一場搖滾音樂會。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Now, we have lived with peacocks for millennia,

我們和孔雀共存了數千年， 卻才剛知道這一點。

but we only just figured this out.

Scientists also used to think that turtles were voiceless

以前科學家也以為烏龜 是不會發出聲音的，

and mother turtles abandoned their nests after laying their eggs.

也以為烏龜媽媽會在產卵之後 就拋棄牠們的巢。

But we've just discovered that baby Amazonian turtles

但我們剛發現，亞馬遜烏龜寶寶

communicate through their shells before they hatch

在孵化之前就能穿過蛋殼溝通，

to coordinate the moment of their birth

協調牠們的出生時機，

and then follow their mother's calls to safety in the water.

接著跟隨牠們母親的呼喚， 到水中安全的地方。

Even creatures without ears are exquisitely sensitive to sound.

就算沒有耳朵的生物， 也會對聲音非常敏感。

So this is a coral larva.

這是珊瑚幼兒。

When coral larvae are born, usually at a mass spawning event

通常，在滿月後幾天 會有大規模的產卵事件，

a few days after the full moon, they wash out to sea.

珊瑚幼兒出生後，會被沖到大海。

So scientists used to think that these little larvae,

以前，科學家相信這些幼兒， 也就是畫面上的這些小圓點，

these tiny dots that you see here,

were helpless, randomly pushed around by wind and waves and currents.

是很無助的，被風、海浪， 和洋流隨機推來推去。

But it turns out that coral larvae are acoustically attuned.

但結果發現珊瑚幼兒對聲音很敏感。

They can hear the sounds of healthy reefs.

牠們可以聽見健康珊瑚礁的聲音。

They can hear the sound of their home reef, their mother reef,

牠們能聽見牠們家園珊瑚礁、 母親珊瑚礁的聲音，

and they swim back home across miles of open ocean.

牠們能在開放海洋中 游數英里回到家園。

So these are tiny creatures with no central nervous system.

這些小型生物都沒有中樞神經系統。

But we think they do that with these hairs

但我們認為牠們是靠牠們 體外的這些纖毛做到的。

that you see on the outside of their bodies.

They're a lot like the hairs inside your ears

這些纖毛很像各位耳內的毛

that are enabling you to listen to me right now,

讓各位現在能聽見我演說的內容。

so you can think of a coral larva a little bit like an inside-out ear,

所以可以把珊瑚幼兒想像成 內部翻到外面來的耳朵，

except that its sense of hearing is profoundly more sensitive than your own

差別只在牠們的聽覺 比各位的還要敏感很多，

because they hear with their entire bodies.

因為牠們用全身在聽。

Even our planet makes sound.

就連地球也會發出聲音。

Volcanoes, earthquakes sound so low and strong and powerful,

火山、地震，

它們的聲音很低沉 且強而有力，能傳得非常遠，

they travel very far,

passing through soil and stone and even solid walls.

穿過土壤、石頭，甚至實心的牆壁。

Listen to this hydrothermal vent deep under the ocean.

聽聽這個深海海底熱泉的聲音。

(Deep, rhythmic hum)

（深沉、有節奏的嗡嗡聲）

So in nature, sound is everywhere and silence is an illusion.

在大自然中，聲音無所不在，

寂靜只是幻覺。

So scientists are also listening to the vast extent

科學家聆聽的範圍非常廣大，

of interspecies communication.

還包括跨物種溝通。

So this bat is using ultrasound to hunt this moth.

這隻蝙蝠正在用超音波 來獵殺這隻蛾。

Its echolocation beam is locked onto its prey,

牠的回聲定位波鎖定了牠的獵物，

but the moth is also emitting ultrasound.

但這隻蛾也在發射超音波。

It's jamming the bat sonar in an attempt to escape.

牠在干擾蝙蝠的聲納，

試圖逃脫。

This plant is also emitting ultrasound, which varies depending on its condition.

這株植物

也會根據它的狀況 發射出不同的超音波。

Scientists have trained an algorithm to listen to this plant.

科學家訓練了一個演算法 來聆聽這株植物。

Simply by listening

光是靠聆聽，

it can detect with about 70 percent accuracy

就能偵測出這株植物 是否健康、脫水，或受損，

whether the plant is healthy, dehydrated or injured.

正確率達 70%。

So this is peer-reviewed research, by the way.

順道一提，這項研究 有經過同儕審查。

So we cannot hear these sounds, but we think many insects can.

我們聽不見這些聲音， 但我們認為許多昆蟲可以。

Does this mean that humans could use digital tech

這是否意味著

人類可以運用數位技術

to one day communicate with other species?

在將來和其他物種溝通？

Well, some scientists think so

有些科學家認為是如此， 且他們在使用機器學習方式

and they're using machine learning to try to decode the acoustics of other species.

試圖譯解其他物種的聲學。

So there are teams of computer scientists and linguists and biologists

有一些電腦科學家、 語言學家，和生物學家的團隊

working on decoding sperm whale bioacoustics.

在努力譯解抹香鯨的生物聲學。

They're also building entire dictionaries.

他們也在建立完整的字典。

So there's an elephant dictionary with thousands of sounds.

比如有大象字典， 內有數千種聲音的說明。

Elephants, for example, have a specific signal for honeybee.

舉例來說，大象有一種 特定的訊號就是給蜜蜂的，

So I'd love to share just one of these sounds with you.

我想和大家分享一個聲音。

It was recorded at a moment of great joy and celebration,

它是在一個充滿喜悅 和慶祝的時刻所錄下的：

the birth of a new baby.

新生兒出生的時刻。

(Elephant roaring)

（大象叫聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

So the further we listen across the tree of life,

當我們越是跨越生命樹去聆聽，

the more complex interspecies communication would be.

跨物種溝通就會更複雜。

Listen to this honeybee.

聽聽這隻蜜蜂。

(Honeybee buzzing)

（蜜蜂發出嗡嗡聲）

Now listen to this honeybee queen.

再聽聽這隻蜜蜂中的皇后。

(Queen bee tooting)

（蜂后發出嘟嘟聲）

So you thought you knew what honeybees sounded like. OK.

你本來還以為你知道 蜜蜂會發出什麼聲音。

Honeybee communication is incredibly complex.

蜜蜂的溝通非常複雜。

It's acoustic, positional, spatial, vibrational.

它包括聲音、位置、空間、振動。

The queen has her own signals.

蜂后有牠自己的訊號。

科學家現在在將這些訊號 編碼寫進機器人程式中，

So scientists are encoding these signals into robots.

This robot is attempting, but not succeeding,

機器人則嘗試和蜂群 溝通，但還沒成功。

to communicate with the hive.

The bees mostly ignore or attack it.

蜜蜂大部分會忽視它或攻擊它。

But one day, we hope,

但，有朝一日，我們希望，

the inventors hope, that this robot will communicate well enough

發明者希望，這個機器人 能把溝通做得夠好，

to allow scientists to monitor the health of the hive.

讓科學家可以監控蜂群的健康。

Now, would that be a good thing?

那會是好事嗎？

Some believe that interspecies communication would help foster respect

有些人認為跨物種溝通能協助 培養對大自然的尊重和同理，

and empathy for nature,

others believe that it is profoundly disrespectful and unethical

也有人認為這麼做 很失禮也很不道德，

to eavesdrop and engage in this way.

不該這樣偷聽和介入。

And there could be a really big downside.

且有可能會有很大的負面影響。

Listen to this robin.

聽聽這隻知更鳥。

(Bird chirping)

（鳥兒啾啾聲）

So that was not actually a robin.

那其實不是知更鳥。

That was a deepfake

那是深偽，

created by an artist, Daisy Ginsberg, using AI.

是藝術家黛西‧金斯柏格 用人工智慧創作的。

Clever, beautiful.

很巧妙，很美麗。

But think of the potential for misuse by hunters or poachers.

但想想看被獵人 和盜獵者濫用的可能性。

Interspecies communication needs strong ethical guardrails.

跨物種溝通需要有 很堅實的倫理界線。

And anyway, maybe it's a bit self-centered to think

總之，認為其他物種 會想和我們溝通，

other species would even want to communicate with us.

可能也是有點自我中心的想法。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So what if we were to use bioacoustics

如果我們把生物聲學用在可以 馬上發揮實際價值的地方呢？

for something of immediate practical value,

like doing something about our massive biodiversity crisis?

比如處理我們面臨的 大規模生物多樣性危機？

Let's go back to the coral reefs.

咱們回來談珊瑚礁。

Listen to this healthy reef sound.

聽聽看，這是健康 珊瑚礁發出的聲音。

(Chirping, croaking and sizzling sounds)

（唧唧聲、呱呱聲，和噝噝聲）

很生動對吧？

Pretty lively, right?

But coral reefs are disappearing.

但珊瑚礁正在不斷消失，如果 現今你造訪大部分的珊瑚礁，

If you were to go to most coral reefs today,

you'd hear something like this.

你聽到的聲音會像這樣。

(Staticky sound)

（雜聲）

It's like a ghost town of the sea.

這就像是海洋中的廢棄鬼鎮。

When we lose species, we lose voices.

當我們失去物種，就會失去聲音。

When we lose landscapes, we also lose soundscapes.

當我們失去地景，就會失去聲景。

There is a ray of hope.

還有一線希望。

The healthy reef sounds that you just heard

各位剛才聽到的健康珊瑚礁聲 可以被用來重造珊瑚礁。

can be used to regenerate coral reefs.

Scientists are doing this.

科學家正在努力中，這有點 像是給大自然用音樂療法。

It's a bit like music therapy for nature.

So this is not going to solve all the problems coral reefs face,

這不會解決珊瑚礁面臨的 所有問題，尤其是氣候變遷。

notably climate change.

But if we can address the massive epidemic of noise pollution

但如果我們能處理

嚴重且泛濫的噪音汙染，

that is harming and killing marine creatures,

避免它傷害及殺害海洋生物，

we could use bioacoustics to restore some biodiversity.

那麼我們就能用生物聲學 來恢復一些生物多樣性。

Bioacoustics could also help protect animals on the move.

生物聲學也可以協助 保護在移動中的動物。

So this baby whale was killed by a ship.

這隻鯨魚寶寶被一艘船撞死。

Tragically, this is a common cause of death of North Atlantic right whales,

感傷的是，這是北大西洋 露脊鯨常見的死因，

one of the most endangered species in the world.

牠們是世界上最瀕臨 絕種的物種之一。

So to address this,

為了解決這個問題，科學家現在

scientists are now launching a new bioacoustics program

在北美的東岸外推出了 一個新的生物聲學計畫，

off the east coast of North America

to triangulate the locations of whales

用三角定位找出鯨魚的 所在，並把這些資訊

and convey the information to ships’ captains in real time.

即時傳遞給船隻的船長。

The ships then have to slow down, stop, move out of the way.

接著這些船隻就必須要 慢下來、停住、改道。

Not a single right whale has died of a ship strike in this zone

這個計畫推出之後， 在這個區域就不再

since this program was launched.

有露脊鯨被船撞死，

(Applause)

（掌聲）

So this may be the thing that saves this species.

這個物種可能可以因此得救。

So think about it.

想想看，幾十年前， 我們用魚叉叉魚，

A few decades ago, we were harpooning these whales nearly to extinction.

幾乎讓這些鯨魚絕種。

Today, we've invented a technology

現今，我們發明了一種技術，

that allows a community of less than 400 whales,

讓數量不到四百隻的鯨魚群落

simply by singing,

只要透過唱歌，

to guide the movements of tens of thousands of ships

就能引導數萬艘船隻在數千萬人的

in a watershed that's home to tens of millions of people.

家鄉流域中移動，

One day, these whale lanes may be everywhere in the oceans.

也許將來有一天，到處 都會有這類鯨魚海道。

For the orcas who live here in the Salish Sea,

對於住在薩利希海這裡的 虎鯨而言，這會是場及時雨。

this would be just in time because there are only a few dozen left.

因為剩下的虎鯨只有幾十隻了。

A final thought.

最後一個想法。

About 400 years ago,

大約四百年前，

the inventors of the microscope were astonished to discover

顯微鏡的發明者很驚訝地 發現了微生物的世界。

the microbial world.

They had no idea their invention would lead to the discovery of DNA

他們完全不知道他們的發明 會促成 DNA 的發現

and the ability to manipulate the code of life.

以及操控生命基因碼的能力。

Around the same time,

大約同一時期，

the inventors of the telescope were gazing up at the stars,

望遠鏡的發明者則在望著星空，

not knowing their invention would allow humanity to look back in time

殊不知道他們的發明 將來能讓人類看到過去，

to the origins of the universe.

看到宇宙的起源。

Optics decenters humanity within the solar system,

光學儀器讓人類發現自己 不是太陽系的中心，

within the cosmos.

或宇宙的中心。

Bioacoustics decenters humanity within the tree of life.

生物聲學則讓人類發現 自己不是生命樹的中心。

Our commonality is greater than we knew.

我們的共通性比我們 所知道的還要大。

Now today we're using bioacoustics to protect species

現今，我們用生物聲學來 保護物種和譯解牠們的溝通，

and decode their communication,

but tomorrow, I believe, we'll be using bioacoustics

但我相信，將來，我們會用生物聲學

combined with machine intelligence

結合機器智慧，

to explore the frontiers of biological intelligence.

來探索生物智慧的未知新領域。

Many biological intelligences are very different than our own,

許多生物智慧和我們 自己的智慧十分不同，

but they're no less worthy of exploration.

但都同樣值得去探索。

And maybe one day in a speculative future,

也許有一天，在一個假設的未來，

instead of a human here on stage,

在舞台上的不是人類，

maybe bioacoustics would enable an orca to give a TED talk.

也許生物聲學能讓虎鯨 來 TED 做演講。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Why not?

有何不可？

來分享虎鯨的故事，

Sharing orca stories about dodging ships

談談如何閃躲船隻、 地震勘探爆破，以及人類獵人，

and seismic blasts and human hunters,

stories about desperately seeking the last remaining salmon,

分享絕望地尋找 僅存少數鮭魚的故事、

stories about trying to survive on this beautiful planet

在這個美麗的星球上 試圖生存的故事，

in this crazy moment

談談在這個瘋狂的時刻，

in our era of untethered human creativity

在這個人類自由發揮創意的時代，

and unprecedented environmental emergency.

在前所未見的環境危機中如何生存。

Now those would be ideas worth spreading.

那些都會是值得傳播的想法。

(Chirping sounds)

（啾啾聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）