{"id":43612,"date":"2025-07-22T00:51:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T05:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=43612"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:01:23","slug":"the-other-ai-avian-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/the-other-ai-avian-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Other AI: Avian Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_44149\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44149\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44149 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/african-grey-px-2561427-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"African grey parrot sitting in cage\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/african-grey-px-2561427-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/african-grey-px-2561427-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/african-grey-px-2561427-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/african-grey-px-2561427.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44149\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Pepperberg has spent an almost 50-year career trying to convince people to appreciate the cognitive abilities of our feathered friends and not to use their names in a derogatory manner, which is an insult to their intelligence. Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/parrot-grey-animal-bird-pet-2561427\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Graphicbirdie\/Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So, this blog is going to be a bit of a rant, because I\u2019m extremely tired of the AI (artificial intelligence) folks using the term \u201cstochastic parrot\u201d as a derogatory term to describe some of the programs that exist today. The term was first used by Bender et al. (2021), claiming that the output of these programs was simply mindless, meaningless, statistically likely but not necessarily precise sequences: \u201cstochastic\u201d from its definition of \u201crandomly generated\u201d and \u201cparrot\u201d in the (<em>wrong!<\/em>) sense of a \u201cmindless mimic.\u201d Whatever one thinks of artificial intelligence programs, there is no reason to use the term \u201cparrot\u201d in a derogatory manner.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll start by providing a bit of background about the artificial intelligence programs I\u2019m discussing. All of you probably have some experience with them, whether or not you actively decide to do so, if you use any kind of word processing or email program. For example, I\u2019m getting prompts constantly while I write these sentences! About half the time I agree with those prompts and am fine with using them\u2026and about half the time they are totally useless.<\/p>\n<p>Let me explain a bit about how these prompts originate. These programs are based on what are called LLMs, or \u201cLarge Language Models.\u201d Basically, they scan and store in memory just about anything (\u201cLarge\u201d) written (\u201cLanguage\u201d) that they can access. They then use statistical programs (\u201cModels\u201d) to determine the most likely next word in a sentence, based on the number of times these patterns exist in their memory. So, certain patterns are more common than others, and the program decides that, therefore, you\u2019ll really like them.<\/p>\n<p>The finding that they are often useless (and sometimes discriminatory, deceptive, and\/or incorrect) triggered Bender et al.\u2019s argument. Of course, by actively choosing to use such programs and providing carefully designed prompts, you <em>can<\/em> get decent results. (For example, if I ask, \u201cWhat should I do to cool down on a hot day?\u201d I\u2019ll be told to go to an air-conditioned space, drink cool liquids, go swimming, etc.) But the Bender et al. argument was that even when the responses are sensible, the programs have no understanding of the material and simply provide the most <em>likely<\/em> responses, solely based on the material in memory, and if there is a problem with the material in memory\u2026well, you get the idea.<\/p>\n<h3>Reclaiming &#8220;Birdbrain&#8221; As A Badge Of Intelligence<\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019m not going to defend artificial intelligence programs (some of which are extremely helpful, others not so much, and a few maybe even seriously problematic); what I <em>AM<\/em> going to defend is the &#8220;other&#8221; AI: that of avian intelligence\u2014I have spent an almost 50-year career trying to convince people to appreciate the cognitive abilities of our feathered compatriots and NOT to use their names in a derogatory manner. (Of course, not <em>all <\/em>parrots use speech in meaningful ways, and their abilities depend on how they are trained and the extent and types of their exposure to human interactions\u2014but even those birds that have not undergone rigorous training often make meaningful associations between particular speech patterns and real-world activities\u2026)<\/p>\n<p>Notably, it is not just parrots who have been taught English speech like Alex, or tested on the same types of task as young children as Griffin (and Athena, Pepper, and Franco\u2014other birds that I have studied) that are certifiably intelligent\u2014you can do a literature search and find all the amazing research on tool use in cockatoos and corvids, episodic memory in scrub jays, ravens cooperating to solve problems, concept formation in pigeons\u2026the list is huge.<\/p>\n<p>Scientific research also exists showing that (at least) parrot and corvid brains have cortical areas (those parts of the brain responsible for intelligence) that are (relative to body size) as great and as densely packed with neurons at levels comparable to great apes. I\u2019m not about to do a major review of avian intelligence here; reviews of the material are publicly available even if the specific journal articles are not. My point is simply that to call something\u2014be it a living being or a computer program\u2014a &#8220;birdbrain&#8221; should be a <em>compliment<\/em> and not a slur!<\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bender, Emily M.; Gebru, Timnit; McMillan-Major, Angelina; Mitchell, Margaret (2021). On the dangers of stochastic parrots: can language models be too big?<em> Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency. <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Doi_(identifier)\">doi<\/a>:<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145%2F3442188.3445922\">10.1145\/3442188.3445922<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Pepperberg&#8217;s latest blo challenges the derogatory use of \u201cstochastic parrot\u201d in AI discourse and defends the intelligence of real parrots as worthy of respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":44149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,211,171,169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-editor-choice","category-everyday","category-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Other AI: Avian Intelligence &#8211; 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You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. 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