00:00Do these pigs sound happy or sad?
00:06European scientists have developed an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of finding
00:11out.
00:13Their goal is to create a tool that can decode pigs' calls and update farmers on their well-being.
00:19Researchers say once fully developed, it could also be used to label farms and help consumers
00:25make informed choices.
00:29The AI algorithm was developed from thousands of pig recordings taken in different settings.
00:35What noises do they make when they play?
00:37How about when pigs are isolated or in competition for food?
00:41Then we started by combining all the recordings we had.
00:44LOD Mandel-Brieffer is a behavioral biologist at the University of Copenhagen and co-lead
00:50of the study.
00:51So we had this huge database of calls that are produced in specific emotions, specific
00:57contexts by many different pigs and kinds of pigs and ages.
01:02And then we developed AI, so artificial intelligence that could tell us, be trained to tell us
01:09if the calls that we recorded were emotionally positive or negative.
01:14They found that short grunts typically indicate positive emotions, while long grunts often
01:20signal discomfort.
01:23High-frequency sounds like screams or squeals usually mean the pig is stressed.
01:28For instance, when they are in pain, fight or are separated from each other.
01:34The study of animal emotions is a relatively new field.
01:38It recognizes the mental health of livestock as vital to their overall well-being.
01:43Most current animal welfare strategies focus on physical health and use systems that monitor
01:48these aspects for farmers.
01:51Mandel-Brieffer says she began working on the project in 2016.
01:55Now with the explosions of AI methods, it actually becomes more and more easy to do
02:00these things.
02:01We made a lot of progress in our team.
02:03The algorithm demonstrated that pigs kept in outdoor, free-range or organic farms, with
02:09the ability to roam and dig, produced fewer stress calls than conventionally raised pigs.
02:17Mandel-Brieffer says the technology could be developed into an app for farmers to enhance
02:22their animals' welfare.
02:24And the researchers say the information could one day be used by consumers to make informed
02:29choices.
02:30With enough data, Mandel-Brieffer says the method could also potentially be applied to
02:35understand the emotions of other mammals.
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