Google Is Making a Splash With Its New AI Model That Can Translate Dolphin Language

Google Pixel phones are already known for their accurate Live Translate feature, which can seamlessly translate human languages in real time. But now, Google is taking things a step further by helping scientists decode how dolphins communicate.

In celebration of National Dolphin Day, Google unveiled their new innovative language model called DolphinGemma. Developed in collaboration with researchers from Georgia Tech and marine scientists at the Wild Dolphin Project (WDP), DolphinGemma is designed to analyse and generate dolphin vocalisations, effectively translating what dolphins are trying to say and that too on Pixel phones. 

How Does This Work?

Google leveraged decades of research from the Wild Dolphin Project (WDP), which has been studying Atlantic spotted dolphins for nearly 40 years. Their findings reveal that dolphins use an underwater language composed of clicks, whistles, and what researchers call “burst pulses”—think of it as the dolphin equivalent of emojis and sentences.

By analysing WDP’s extensive dataset, the DolphinGemma AI model can take in real dolphin vocalisations and identify patterns in these sound sequences to interpret the meaning behind these clicks and whistles.

What makes DolphinGemma more impressive is that it doesn’t rely on bulky underwater equipment. Instead, it runs directly on Google Pixel phones. Thanks to Google’s advanced audio processing and the powerful SoundStream tokenizer, researchers can listen to dolphin chatter and even respond in real time. 

WDP and Georgia Tech are also testing a companion system called CHAT (Cetacean Hearing Augmentation Telemetry), which uses synthetic whistles to represent specific objects dolphins are fond of. For example, a whistle might mean “toy,” prompting the dolphin to mimic it in response.

In the field, researchers wear bone-conducting headphones that allow them to hear dolphin responses immediately. It’s a live, two-way conversation that is powered entirely by a Pixel 6 running the DolphinGemma model. The phone cuts through underwater noise, recognises dolphin mimics to provide real-time translations to human researchers.

Google has also hinted that future devices, like the Pixel 9, will take this even further by running models faster and entirely on-device, making dolphin-to-human conversations smoother than ever.