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Diana Reiss: You may think you're looking

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through a window at a dolphin
spinning playfully,

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but what you're actually looking through

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is a two-way mirror at a dolphin

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looking at itself spinning playfully.

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This is a dolphin that is self-aware.

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This dolphin has self-awareness.

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It's a young dolphin named Bayley.

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I've been very interested
in understanding the nature

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of the intelligence of dolphins
for the past 30 years.

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How do we explore
intelligence in this animal

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that's so different from us?

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And what I've used is a very
simple research tool,

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a mirror, and we've gained
great information,

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reflections of these animal minds.

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Dolphins aren't the only animals,
the only non-human animals,

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to show mirror self-recognition.

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We used to think this
was a uniquely human ability,

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but we learned that the great
apes, our closest relatives,

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also show this ability.

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Then we showed it in dolphins,

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and then later in elephants.

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We did this work in my lab
with the dolphins and elephants,

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and it's been recently
shown in the magpie.

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Now, it's interesting,
because we've embraced

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this Darwinian view of a continuity
in physical evolution,

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this physical continuity.

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But we've been much more
reticent, much slower

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at recognizing this
continuity in cognition,

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in emotion, in consciousness
in other animals.

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Other animals are conscious.

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They're emotional. They're aware.

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There have been multitudes
of studies with many species

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over the years that have
given us exquisite evidence

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for thinking and consciousness
in other animals,

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other animals that are quite
different than we are in form.

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We are not alone.

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We are not alone in these abilities.

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And I hope, and one of my biggest dreams,

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is that, with our growing awareness

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about the consciousness of others

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and our relationship with the rest
of the animal world,

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that we'll give them
the respect and protection

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that they deserve.

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So that's a wish I'm throwing
out here for everybody,

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and I hope I can really
engage you in this idea.

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Now, I want to return to dolphins,

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because these are the animals
that I feel like

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I've been working up closely
and personal with

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for over 30 years.

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And these are real personalities.

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They are not persons,
but they're personalities

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in every sense of the word.

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And you can't get more
alien than the dolphin.

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They are very different
from us in body form.

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They're radically different. They come
from a radically different environment.

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In fact, we're separated
by 95 million years

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of divergent evolution.

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Look at this body.

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And in every sense of making a pun here,

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these are true non-terrestrials.

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I wondered how we might
interface with these animals.

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In the 1980s, I developed
an underwater keyboard.

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This was a custom-made
touch-screen keyboard.

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What I wanted to do was give
the dolphins choice and control.

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These are big brains,
highly social animals,

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and I thought, well, if we give
them choice and control,

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if they can hit a symbol
on this keyboard --

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and by the way, it was interfaced
by fiber optic cables

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from Hewlett-Packard
with an Apple II computer.

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This seems prehistoric now,

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but this was where
we were with technology.

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So the dolphins could hit a key, a symbol,

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they heard a computer-generated whistle,

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and they got an object or activity.

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Now here's a little video.

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This is Delphi and Pan,
and you're going to see Delphi

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hitting a key, he hears a computer-generated
whistle -- (Whistle) --

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and gets a ball, so they can
actually ask for things they want.

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What was remarkable is,
they explored this keyboard

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on their own. There was no
intervention on our part.

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They explored the keyboard.
They played around with it.

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They figured out how it worked.

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And they started to quickly
imitate the sounds

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they were hearing on the keyboard.

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They imitated on their own.

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Beyond that, though, they started learning

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associations
between the symbols, the sounds

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and the objects.

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What we saw was self-organized learning,

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and now I'm imagining, what can we do

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with new technologies?

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How can we create interfaces,
new windows into

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the minds of animals,
with the technologies that exist today?

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So I was thinking about this,
and then, one day,

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I got a call from Peter.

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Peter Gabriel: I make noises for a living.

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On a good day, it's music,

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and I want to talk a little bit about

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the most amazing music-making
experience I ever had.

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I'm a farm boy. I grew
up surrounded by animals,

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and I would look in these eyes and wonder

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what was going on there?

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So as an adult, when
I started to read about

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the amazing breakthroughs
with Penny Patterson and Koko,

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with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
and Kanzi, Panbanisha,

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Irene Pepperberg, Alex the parrot,

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I got all excited.

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What was amazing to me also

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was they seemed a lot more adept

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at getting a handle on our language

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than we were on getting
a handle on theirs.

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I work with a lot of musicians
from around the world,

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and often we don't have
any common language at all,

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but we sit down behind our instruments,

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and suddenly there's a way
for us to connect and emote.

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So I started cold-calling,
and eventually got through

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to Sue Savage-Rumbaugh,

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and she invited me down.

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I went down, and the bonobos

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had had access to percussion instruments,

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musical toys, but never
before to a keyboard.

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At first they did what infants do,

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just bashed it with their fists,

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and then I asked, through Sue,

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if Panbanisha could try
with one finger only.

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Sue Savage-Rumbaugh: Can
you play a grooming song?

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I want to hear a grooming song.

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Play a real quiet grooming song.

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PG: So groom was the subject of the piece.

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(Music)

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So I'm just behind, jamming,

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yeah, this is what we started with.

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Sue's encouraging her
to continue a little more.

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(Music)

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She discovers a note she likes,

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finds the octave.

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She'd never sat at a keyboard before.

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Nice triplets.

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SSR: You did good. That was very good.

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PG: She hit good.

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(Applause)

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So that night, we began to dream,

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and we thought, perhaps
the most amazing tool

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that man's created is the Internet,

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and what would happen if we could somehow

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find new interfaces,

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visual-audio interfaces that would allow

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these remarkable sentient beings

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that we share the planet with access?

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And Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
got excited about that,

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called her friend Steve Woodruff,

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and we began hustling all sorts of people

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whose work related or was inspiring,

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which led us to Diana,

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and led us to Neil.

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Neil Gershenfeld: Thanks, Peter.
PG: Thank you.

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(Applause)

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NG: So Peter approached me.

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I lost it when I saw that clip.

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He approached me with a vision
of doing these things

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not for people, for animals.

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And then I was struck
in the history of the Internet.

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This is what the Internet
looked like when it was born

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and you can call that the Internet

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of middle-aged white men,

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mostly middle-aged white men.

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Vint Cerf: (Laughs)

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(Laughter)

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NG: Speaking as one.

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Then, when I first came to TED,

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which was where I met
Peter, I showed this.

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This is a $1 web server,

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and at the time that was radical.

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And the possibility of making
a web server for a dollar

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grew into what became known
as the Internet of Things,

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which is literally an industry
now with tremendous implications

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for health care, energy efficiency.

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And we were happy with ourselves.

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And then when Peter showed me that,

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I realized we had missed something,

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which is the rest of the planet.

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So we started up this
interspecies Internet project.

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Now we started talking with TED

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about how you bring dolphins
and great apes and elephants

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to TED, and we realized
that wouldn't work.

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So we're going to bring you to them.

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So if we could switch
to the audio from this computer,

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we've been video conferencing
with cognitive animals,

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and we're going to have each of them

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just briefly introduce them.

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And so if we could also
have this up, great.

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So the first site we're going to meet

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is Cameron Park Zoo
in Waco, with orangutans.

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In the daytime they live outside.
It's nighttime there now.

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So can you please go ahead?

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Terri Cox: Hi, I'm Terri Cox

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with the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas,

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and with me I have KeraJaan and Mei,

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two of our Bornean orangutans.

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During the day, they have
a beautiful, large outdoor habitat,

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and at night, they come into this habitat,

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into their night quarters,

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where they can have a climate-controlled

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and secure environment to sleep in.

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We participate in the Apps
for Apes program

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Orangutan Outreach, and we use iPads

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to help stimulate and enrich the animals,

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and also help raise awareness

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for these critically endangered animals.

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And they share 97 percent of our DNA

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and are incredibly intelligent,

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so it's so exciting to think
of all the opportunities

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that we have via technology
and the Internet

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to really enrich their lives
and open up their world.

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We're really excited about the possibility

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of an interspecies Internet,

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and K.J. has
been enjoying the conference very much.

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NG: That's great. When we were
rehearsing last night,

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he had fun watching the elephants.

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Next user group are the dolphins
at the National Aquarium.

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Please go ahead.

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Allison Ginsburg: Good evening.

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Well, my name is Allison Ginsburg,

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and we're live in Baltimore
at the National Aquarium.

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Joining me are three of our eight Atlantic
bottlenose dolphins:

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20-year-old Chesapeake,
who was our first dolphin born here,

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her four-year-old daughter Bayley,

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and her half sister, 11-year-old Maya.

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Now, here at the National Aquarium

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we are committed to excellence
in animal care,

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to research, and to conservation.

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The dolphins are pretty intrigued
as to what's going on here tonight.

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They're not really used
to having cameras here

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at 8 o'clock at night.

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In addition, we are very
committed to doing

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different types of research.

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As Diana mentioned,
our animals are involved

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in many different research studies.

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NG: Those are for you.

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Okay, that's great, thank you.

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And the third user group, in Thailand,

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is Think Elephants. Go ahead, Josh.

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Josh Plotnik: Hi, my name is Josh Plotnik,

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and I'm with Think
Elephants International,

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and we're here in the Golden
Triangle of Thailand

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with the Golden Triangle Asian
Elephant Foundation elephants.

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And we have 26 elephants here,

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and our research is focused on the evolution
of intelligence with elephants,

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but our foundation Think
Elephants is focused

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on bringing elephants
into classrooms around the world

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virtually like this and showing people

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how incredible these animals are.

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So we're able to bring the camera
right up to the elephant,

255
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put food into the elephant's mouth,

256
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show people what's going
on inside their mouths,

257
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and show everyone around the world

258
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how incredible these animals really are.

259
00:13:25,815 --> 00:13:28,295
NG: Okay, that's great. Thanks Josh.

260
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And once again, we've been building
great relationships

261
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among them just
since we've been rehearsing.

262
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So at that point, if we can go
back to the other computer,

263
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we were starting to think
about how you integrate

264
00:13:37,911 --> 00:13:40,736
the rest of the biomass
of the planet into the Internet,

265
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and we went to the best possible person

266
00:13:43,367 --> 00:13:46,006
I can think of, which is Vint Cerf,

267
00:13:46,030 --> 00:13:49,052
who is one of the founders
who gave us the Internet. Vint?

268
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VC: Thank you, Neil.

269
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(Applause)

270
00:13:55,030 --> 00:14:00,086
A long time ago in a galaxy
— oops, wrong script.

271
00:14:00,110 --> 00:14:02,556
Forty years ago, Bob Kahn and I

272
00:14:02,580 --> 00:14:04,155
did the design of the Internet.

273
00:14:04,179 --> 00:14:06,918
Thirty years ago, we turned it on.

274
00:14:06,942 --> 00:14:10,003
Just last year, we turned
on the production Internet.

275
00:14:10,027 --> 00:14:12,126
You've been using the experimental version

276
00:14:12,150 --> 00:14:13,602
for the last 30 years.

277
00:14:13,626 --> 00:14:16,956
The production version,
it uses IP version 6.

278
00:14:16,980 --> 00:14:21,956
It has 3.4 times 10 to the 38th
possible terminations.

279
00:14:21,980 --> 00:14:25,113
That's a number only that Congress
can appreciate.

280
00:14:25,137 --> 00:14:29,214
But it leads to what is coming next.

281
00:14:29,238 --> 00:14:31,876
When Bob and I did this design,

282
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we thought we were building a system
to connect computers together.

283
00:14:35,406 --> 00:14:37,217
What we very quickly discovered

284
00:14:37,241 --> 00:14:40,400
is that this was a system
for connecting people together.

285
00:14:40,424 --> 00:14:42,868
And what you've seen tonight

286
00:14:42,892 --> 00:14:46,810
tells you that we should
not restrict this network

287
00:14:46,834 --> 00:14:48,992
to one species,

288
00:14:49,016 --> 00:14:52,833
that these other intelligent,
sentient species

289
00:14:52,857 --> 00:14:55,306
should be part of the system too.

290
00:14:55,330 --> 00:14:57,664
This is the system as it
looks today, by the way.

291
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This is what the Internet
looks like to a computer

292
00:15:00,883 --> 00:15:03,129
that's trying to figure
out where the traffic

293
00:15:03,153 --> 00:15:04,778
is supposed to go.

294
00:15:04,802 --> 00:15:07,403
This is generated by a program

295
00:15:07,427 --> 00:15:10,152
that's looking at the connectivity
of the Internet,

296
00:15:10,176 --> 00:15:12,989
and how all the various networks
are connected together.

297
00:15:13,013 --> 00:15:16,354
There are about 400,000
networks, interconnected,

298
00:15:16,378 --> 00:15:21,493
run independently by 400,000
different operating agencies,

299
00:15:21,517 --> 00:15:22,946
and the only reason this works

300
00:15:22,970 --> 00:15:26,771
is that they all use the same
standard TCP/IP protocols.

301
00:15:26,795 --> 00:15:29,126
Well, you know where this is headed.

302
00:15:29,150 --> 00:15:31,417
The Internet of Things tell us

303
00:15:31,441 --> 00:15:35,713
that a lot of computer-enabled
appliances and devices

304
00:15:35,737 --> 00:15:38,169
are going to become part
of this system too:

305
00:15:38,193 --> 00:15:40,442
appliances that you use around the house,

306
00:15:40,466 --> 00:15:42,361
that you use in your office,

307
00:15:42,385 --> 00:15:44,986
that you carry around with yourself
or in the car.

308
00:15:45,010 --> 00:15:47,353
That's the Internet
of Things that's coming.

309
00:15:47,377 --> 00:15:50,155
Now, what's important
about what these people are doing

310
00:15:50,179 --> 00:15:52,506
is that they're beginning to learn

311
00:15:52,530 --> 00:15:55,756
how to communicate with species

312
00:15:55,780 --> 00:15:57,098
that are not us

313
00:15:57,122 --> 00:16:00,201
but share a common sensory environment.

314
00:16:00,225 --> 00:16:02,425
We're beginning to explore what it means

315
00:16:02,449 --> 00:16:03,989
to communicate with something

316
00:16:04,013 --> 00:16:06,351
that isn't just another person.

317
00:16:06,375 --> 00:16:09,077
Well, you can see what's coming next.

318
00:16:09,101 --> 00:16:12,005
All kinds of possible sentient beings

319
00:16:12,029 --> 00:16:14,029
may be interconnected through this system,

320
00:16:14,053 --> 00:16:17,146
and I can't wait to see
these experiments unfold.

321
00:16:17,170 --> 00:16:19,161
What happens after that?

322
00:16:19,185 --> 00:16:21,891
Well, let's see.

323
00:16:21,915 --> 00:16:25,076
There are machines that need
to talk to machines

324
00:16:25,100 --> 00:16:28,334
and that we need to talk to,
and so as time goes on,

325
00:16:28,358 --> 00:16:30,153
we're going to have to learn

326
00:16:30,177 --> 00:16:31,921
how to communicate with computers

327
00:16:31,945 --> 00:16:34,420
and how to get computers
to communicate with us

328
00:16:34,444 --> 00:16:36,239
in the way that we're accustomed to,

329
00:16:36,263 --> 00:16:39,102
not with keyboards, not with mice,

330
00:16:39,126 --> 00:16:41,166
but with speech and gestures

331
00:16:41,190 --> 00:16:44,150
and all the natural human language
that we're accustomed to.

332
00:16:44,174 --> 00:16:46,287
So we'll need something like C3PO

333
00:16:46,311 --> 00:16:49,735
to become a translator between ourselves

334
00:16:49,759 --> 00:16:51,877
and some of the other
machines we live with.

335
00:16:51,901 --> 00:16:54,253
Now, there is a project that's underway

336
00:16:54,277 --> 00:16:56,075
called the interplanetary Internet.

337
00:16:56,099 --> 00:16:58,799
It's in operation between Earth and Mars.

338
00:16:58,823 --> 00:17:01,821
It's operating on the International
Space Station.

339
00:17:01,845 --> 00:17:05,512
It's part of the spacecraft
that's in orbit around the Sun

340
00:17:05,536 --> 00:17:07,334
that's rendezvoused with two planets.

341
00:17:07,358 --> 00:17:09,598
So the interplanetary
system is on its way,

342
00:17:09,623 --> 00:17:11,306
but there's a last project,

343
00:17:11,329 --> 00:17:14,102
which the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency,

344
00:17:14,126 --> 00:17:16,061
which funded the original ARPANET,

345
00:17:16,086 --> 00:17:19,551
funded the Internet, funded
the interplanetary architecture,

346
00:17:19,576 --> 00:17:22,887
is now funding a project
to design a spacecraft

347
00:17:22,911 --> 00:17:27,049
to get to the nearest
star in 100 years' time.

348
00:17:27,073 --> 00:17:29,652
What that means
is that what we're learning

349
00:17:29,676 --> 00:17:31,824
with these interactions with other species

350
00:17:31,848 --> 00:17:33,963
will teach us, ultimately,

351
00:17:33,987 --> 00:17:37,956
how we might interact
with an alien from another world.

352
00:17:37,980 --> 00:17:40,606
I can hardly wait.

353
00:17:40,630 --> 00:17:47,807
(Applause)

354
00:17:47,831 --> 00:17:48,785
June Cohen: So first of all, thank you,

355
00:17:48,809 --> 00:17:51,343
and I would like to acknowledge
that four people

356
00:17:51,367 --> 00:17:53,256
who could talk to us for full four days

357
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,471
actually managed to stay
to four minutes each,

358
00:17:55,495 --> 00:17:56,854
and we thank you for that.

359
00:17:56,878 --> 00:17:58,133
I have so many questions,

360
00:17:58,157 --> 00:18:01,491
but maybe a few practical things
that the audience might want to know.

361
00:18:01,515 --> 00:18:04,017
You're launching this idea here at TED —
PG: Today.

362
00:18:04,041 --> 00:18:05,213
JC: Today. This is the first
time you're talking about it.

363
00:18:05,237 --> 00:18:08,237
Tell me a little bit about where
you're going to take the idea.

364
00:18:08,261 --> 00:18:09,270
What's next?

365
00:18:09,294 --> 00:18:12,558
PG: I think we want
to engage as many people

366
00:18:12,582 --> 00:18:14,618
here as possible in helping us

367
00:18:14,642 --> 00:18:18,967
think of smart interfaces
that will make all this possible.

368
00:18:18,991 --> 00:18:20,333
NG: And just mechanically,

369
00:18:20,357 --> 00:18:22,838
there's a 501(c)(3) and web infrastructure

370
00:18:22,862 --> 00:18:24,861
and all of that, but it's not
quite ready to turn on,

371
00:18:24,885 --> 00:18:26,893
so we'll roll that out, and contact us

372
00:18:26,917 --> 00:18:28,537
if you want the information on it.

373
00:18:28,561 --> 00:18:31,644
The idea is this will be -- much
like the Internet functions

374
00:18:31,668 --> 00:18:32,649
as a network of networks,

375
00:18:32,673 --> 00:18:34,293
which is Vint's core contribution,

376
00:18:34,317 --> 00:18:36,558
this will be a wrapper
around all of these initiatives,

377
00:18:36,582 --> 00:18:39,353
that are wonderful individually,
to link them globally.

378
00:18:39,377 --> 00:18:40,917
JC: Right, and do you have a web address

379
00:18:40,941 --> 00:18:41,961
that we might look for yet?

380
00:18:41,985 --> 00:18:44,747
NG: Shortly. JC: Shortly. We
will come back to you on that.

381
00:18:44,771 --> 00:18:48,024
And very quickly, just to clarify.

382
00:18:48,048 --> 00:18:50,231
Some people might have looked
at the video that you showed

383
00:18:50,255 --> 00:18:51,739
and thought, well, that's just a webcam.

384
00:18:51,763 --> 00:18:52,810
What's special about it?

385
00:18:52,834 --> 00:18:54,501
If you could talk for just a moment

386
00:18:54,525 --> 00:18:56,242
about how you want to go past that?

387
00:18:56,266 --> 00:18:59,759
NG: So this is scalable
video infrastructure,

388
00:18:59,783 --> 00:19:02,172
not for a few to a few but many to many,

389
00:19:02,196 --> 00:19:05,182
so that it scales
to symmetrical video sharing

390
00:19:05,206 --> 00:19:08,320
and content sharing across these
sites around the planet.

391
00:19:08,344 --> 00:19:11,008
So there's a lot of back-end
signal processing,

392
00:19:11,032 --> 00:19:13,626
not for one to many, but for many to many.

393
00:19:13,650 --> 00:19:15,178
JC: Right, and then on a practical level,

394
00:19:15,202 --> 00:19:16,889
which technologies are you
looking at first?

395
00:19:16,913 --> 00:19:20,239
I know you mentioned that a keyboard
is a really key part of this.

396
00:19:20,263 --> 00:19:23,275
DR: We're trying to develop
an interactive touch screen for dolphins.

397
00:19:23,299 --> 00:19:26,109
This is sort of a continuation
of some of the earlier work,

398
00:19:26,133 --> 00:19:28,989
and we just got our first seed
money today towards that,

399
00:19:29,013 --> 00:19:30,362
so it's our first project.

400
00:19:30,386 --> 00:19:32,101
JC: Before the talk, even. DR: Yeah.

401
00:19:32,125 --> 00:19:33,452
JC: Wow. Well done.

402
00:19:33,476 --> 00:19:35,953
All right, well thank you
all so much for joining us.

403
00:19:35,977 --> 00:19:38,088
It's such a delight
to have you on the stage.

404
00:19:38,112 --> 00:19:39,493
DR: Thank you. VC: Thank you.

405
00:19:39,517 --> 00:19:44,654
(Applause)