“What dolphins say to each other are serious words—true words.” But what exactly are these remarkable sea mammals—known for their intelligence—communicating?

It has been proven that dolphins use tools, solve problems, cooperate, and learn quickly. Scientists estimate their IQ at around 45, and emotional displays of affection toward humans have also been observed.

One of their primary forms of socialization is "speech"—a system of vocalizations used to send specific messages to other members of their group.

But what do these sounds actually mean, and is it possible for humans to understand or even converse with dolphins?

These questions are now being explored by scientists who, with the help of artificial intelligence, have developed a system designed to enable communication between humans and dolphins.

Researchers from the Wild Dolphin Project (WDP)—which has studied dolphins for over 40 years—partnered with Google and the Georgia Institute of Technology to develop and test the DolphinGemma model on a dolphin community in the Bahamas.

Thanks to decades of data collected by WDP, researchers were able to decode dolphin vocalizations and associate specific sounds with certain behaviors—such as mating calls or even disagreements between members of the pod.

According to Google, DolphinGemma uses the CHAT system (Cetacean Hearing Augmentation Telemetry) through the company’s Pixel 6 smartphone to mimic dolphin vocal behavior. The system runs on the same foundational technology behind Google’s Gemini models, featuring approximately 400 million parameters. It functions similarly to a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT but is specifically tailored for understanding and facilitating dolphin communication.

The model records dolphin sounds, interprets them—such as when a dolphin plays with an object—and then predicts what vocalizations may follow, sending updates to researchers via the mobile device.

While direct translation of dolphin language is not yet possible, a simplified vocabulary is being built to help humans better understand the species’ communication system.

This innovation could pave the way for more advanced inter-species communication systems and provide valuable insights into dolphin social structures and behavior.

Denise Herzing of the WDP explained: “We don’t know if animals use words. Dolphins recognize themselves in mirrors and use tools, so they are intelligent. But language remains a barrier. Training an AI model like DolphinGemma with dolphin vocalizations may help us detect linguistic patterns and subtleties that humans can’t easily perceive.”

Thad Starner of Google DeepMind added: “If dolphins have their own language, they may also have their own culture.”