Worried About AI? Parrots Learn to Use Tablets, Smartphones

Researchers at Northeastern University, in collaboration with MIT and the University of Glasgow, taught a group of domesticated birds to call one another on tablets and smartphones. The birds seem to really enjoy it.

The scientists, working with volunteer pet owners, showed a group of parrots of different species how to use tablets and smartphones and how to video-call on Facebook Messenger.

The researchers observed the goings on over a three-month period, and then tested whether, if given the choice, would the birds call each other? Hell yes.

Northeastern’s Schuyler Velasco writes: “Not only did the birds initiate calls freely and seem to understand that a real fellow parrot was on the other end, but caretakers overwhelmingly reported the calls as positive experiences for their parrots. Some caregivers watched their birds learn skills from their video friends, including foraging, new vocalizations and even flying. ‘She came alive during the calls,’ reported one.”

Preferences emerged. A Goffin’s cockatoo became friends with an African grey. “It’s been over a year and they still talk,” says parrot behaviorist Jennifer Cunha. Some birds were more gregarious than others, just like humans, and the more popular birds were more likely to initiate calls.

The positive results notwithstanding, the researchers caution parrot owners from merely firing up a Zoom call to see what happens. The parrots in the study had experienced handlers who introduced the alien technology slowly and methodically. Unmediated interactions could induce fear and panic in the birds (and us?)

Still, what a delightful study (published in Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.) The research team  has also studied computer interactions in the lives of other animal species, ranging from dogs to orcas.

Photo credit: Matthew Modoono / Northeastern University