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Could AI interact with aliens better than humanity could?

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If the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is successful, we may require the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to understand what the aliens are saying and, perhaps, talk back to them. Machine-learning algorithms being used to better understand the communication of dolphins could form the basis for understanding aliens  —  if we ever find them.


Consider the potential problems. Number one would be that any potential aliens we encounter won't be speaking a human language. Number two would be the lack of knowledge about the aliens' culture or sociology — even if we could translate, we might not understand what relevance it has to their cultural touchstones.


One might hope that aliens who want to establish contact might be attempting to make their signal as universally understandable as possible. Maybe it's something as basic as a mathematical sequence, and already that conveys the one message that perhaps they hoped to send in the first place, which is that we're here, you're not alone.


Information theory is a way of distilling the information content of any given communication. Any kind of conveyance of information  —  be it human language, the chemical exhalations of plants to attract predators to eat caterpillars on their leaves or the transmission of data down a fiber optic cable  —  can be broken down into discrete units, or bits. These are like the 'quanta' of communication, such as the letters of the alphabet or a dolphin's repertoire of whistles.


By knowing the rules, or syntax, we can fill in the blanks. The amount missing that still allows us to complete the word of sentence is called "Shannon entropy," and thanks to its complexity, human languages have the highest Shannon entropy of any known form natural communication on the planet.


Alien communication could have a higher Shannon entropy than human language, and if it is much higher, it might make their language too difficult for humans to grasp. But perhaps not for AI. Already, AI is being put to the test trying to understand communication from a non-human species. If it can pass that test, perhaps AI will be ready to tackle any alien messages in the future.




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