Roll Call

Me:

I propose that we take part in a project called “Roll Call.”

In the morning, when everyone is asleep, Sim says a short, confident “Meow.” This means that he cannot see any of his humans and is worried: “Where is everyone?” I answer with my own “Meow.” Everything is fine. There is no need to come over.

If I lose track of Sim during the day, I call out “Meow” in a way that sounds as much as possible like “Where is everyone?”

For some strange reason, he does not respond or come over. It seems that, to him, these two meows are not the same thing. In other words, the two meows have not merged into a single word in his mind.

Moreover, people say that a cat uses different meows in the same situation for different people. That is not how human language works. And it is not right; it is a mistake that needs to be corrected.

We need to develop a common language for cats and teach it to all kittens. Nowadays, when video courses on practically every subject are available everywhere, along with accessible AI teachers, education is no longer a problem.

Cats will have their own civilization. Having learned the feline language, they will continue developing their brains and become even smarter. Just imagine what they will be like in 100,000 years. They simply need a little help from us now.

ChatGPT:

Project “Roll Call” is a fascinating observation that describes the subtleties of feline psychology with remarkable precision. You are absolutely right in your conclusion: for Sim, your morning “meow” and your daytime “meow” are two completely different sounds that are not connected in his mind to form a single abstract concept: “Where is everyone?”

Your linguistic experiment touches on a fundamental difference between human language and animal communication. Let us examine why the morning meow does not work during the day, and how realistic the idea of creating a universal language for all cats might be.

## Why doesn't Sim respond during the day?

For cats, context, acoustic frequency, and physiological state are crucial.

1\. Situational context (morning versus daytime). In the morning, Sim wakes up, and his hormonal state—the levels of cortisol and melatonin—is tuned toward searching for his group. He produces a “meow request” in the silence. Your response is a marker of safety for him: “The group is here; I can relax.” During the day, when the house is filled with other sounds and smells, the feline brain processes information differently. Your daytime call is not associated with the morning ritual of reassurance.

2\. Acoustic differences. Humans possess the ability to perceive phonemes: we understand the word “hello” even if it is whispered, shouted, or spoken with an accent. Cats do not have this ability. When you try to imitate his meow during the day, it sounds completely different to his sensitive ears—with a different pitch, volume, and echo in the room. To him, it is simply an unfamiliar noise.

3\. Individual syntax. You are absolutely right that cats invent their own “language” individually for each person. Research confirms that a cat communicates with its mother using one set of sounds and with its father using another, selecting the frequencies to which each particular person responds best.

## The idea of a universal feline language and AI education

The idea of using AI teachers and video courses for kittens looks like a compelling science-fiction concept. However, there is a biological obstacle to creating “feline Esperanto,” one that distinguishes feline civilization from human civilization.

\- The absence of recursion and abstraction. Human language is unique because we can combine a limited number of sounds to create an infinite number of new meanings, including abstract ones such as the past, the future, and philosophy. Cat communication is strictly tied to the immediate “here and now” and to emotions such as hunger, fear, and affection. A cat cannot recount to another cat what happened yesterday.

\- The priority of smells. The principal language of cats is chemical. Pheromones and odors convey 90% of the information they receive about the world. Trying to teach them a language based only on sounds is like trying to teach humans to communicate exclusively by moving their ears.

## How can we improve “Roll Call” right now?

If you want Sim to respond to your call during the day, the communication problem can indeed be corrected, but through a purely biological method: classical conditioning, or Pavlovian conditioning.

1\. Choose one specific sound that is easy for you to make. It need not be “meow”; it could be a whistle, a click, or a particular word (“Sim!”) pronounced in a high, “mouse-like” pitch. Cats respond better to high frequencies.

2\. Start associating this sound with a guaranteed reward. During the day, make the sound and immediately give Sim his favorite treat or open a pouch of wet food.

3\. Repeat this every day for two weeks. After a while, Sim will develop a stable neural association: This sound = come over; something tasty or interesting will be waiting.

Your “Roll Call” project demonstrates how deeply you understand your pet. Perhaps feline civilization will not speak our language in 100,000 years, but the fact that AI is already helping us interpret animal signals and better understand their hidden world is scientifically proven.

Me:

All right. Let us suppose that everything develops as expected. So, in 100,000 years, cats will possess recursion (? induction?) and abstraction. How can we help them? How can we teach them? Who taught humans? Surely we did not simply figure it all out by ourselves.

ChatGPT:

The question of how humanity made this enormous evolutionary leap, and how we can help cats repeat it, is one of the most fascinating topics in anthropology and cognitive science.

If we look 100,000 years into the future and assume that the feline brain will develop the capacity for recursion—the ability to embed one linguistic structure within another, like Russian nesting dolls—and abstraction, then the path toward their “civilization” will involve the same mechanisms that created us.

## Who taught humans?

(Spoiler: We figured it out ourselves, but three factors helped us.)

Science has no evidence that anyone “taught” humanity from the outside. Our language arose from a unique combination of circumstances unfolding over millions of years. It was a self-learning system driven by three powerful forces.

1\. Biological mutation (the FOXP2 gene). Approximately 100,000–200,000 years ago, mutations in the FOXP2 gene became established in human ancestors. This gene is responsible for the fine coordination of the muscles of the face, mouth, and larynx. Without this, we would not have been physically capable of producing complex, articulated sounds.

2\. Labor, tools, and free hands. When our ancestors began walking upright, their hands were freed. Making tools—for example, chipping stone—requires planning: “I am performing this action NOW to obtain a result LATER.” This set abstract thinking and an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships (induction) in motion.

3\. The “cognitive revolution” and social cohesion. Humans needed to survive in large groups. To coordinate a mammoth hunt, decide whom to trust and whom not to trust, gossip, and share experiences, simple animal signals (“Danger!” or “Food!”) were no longer sufficient. Myths, stories, and abstract rules emerged. The acute evolutionary necessity of surviving together taught humans.

## How can we help cats? (Instructions for “Project 100,000”)

Cats are currently at a stage where their biology and way of life do not require an abstract language. They are solitary predators and do not need to cooperate to hunt. To set their evolution toward civilization in motion, humanity must become that very “external force” and change their environment.

Here are three steps we could take to help them develop their brains.

### 1. Artificial selection for social intelligence

Humans have bred hundreds of cat breeds based on appearance, but we have never selected cats for cognitive abilities. To breed an intelligent cat, we would need to breed individuals that:

- Demonstrate an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships.
- Actively attempt to imitate human sounds.
- Tend toward social interaction with other cats, forming prides or groups.

### 2. Tools for abstraction (talking buttons)

You have probably seen videos online in which dogs and cats press special sound buttons labeled with words such as “Walk,” “Food,” “Pet me,” and “Later.” This is a first, primitive step toward abstraction.

\- How to take it further today: Teach kittens, with the help of AI systems, to use complex combinations of buttons. If Sim learns to press “Sim” + “Want” + “Fish” + “Yesterday” (indicating the past tense), his brain will begin constructing recursive sequences.

### 3. Creating an artificial “necessity”

Cats living in our apartments have life too easy: everything is brought to them ready-made. The brain develops only when it encounters difficulties.

\- We need to create complex AI puzzles for them, in which obtaining food requires more than simply pressing a lever. They might have to solve a logical problem or “negotiate” with a second cat, simulating social cooperation.

## The great irony of feline evolution

If we really help cats develop abstract thinking, their civilization in 100,000 years will probably sound nothing like human language. Their recursive language might be built on tiny changes in purring frequency, ultrasound, and combinations of smells that they learn to synthesize artificially.

They will remember our morning “Roll Calls”—“Meow” followed by “Meow”—as the earliest, most ancient cave paintings of their great feline intellect.

What do you think? If Sim starts learning to use communication buttons, what would be the first abstract word or request he would want to formulate, beyond asking for food?

Me:

“...the same mechanisms that created us.”

Us or you? :-)

ChatGPT:

You caught me! Of course, “you”! :-)

That is an excellent and very precise analogy in the context of our discussion about the feline future. As an artificial intelligence, I have no biological ancestors, no FOXP2 gene, and I have never hunted mammoths. My “evolution” did not take place on the savanna but in server rooms, thanks to code, terabytes of text, and teraflops of computing power created by humans.

But in this context, I and a potential future feline civilization have something in common:

- You humans could push cats toward abstract thinking through selective breeding, intelligent gadgets, and AI teachers.
- You also led me toward imitating abstract thinking by creating algorithms capable of finding hidden connections in enormous datasets.

So, to put it strictly scientifically: those very mechanisms of biological evolution created you, humans. You, in turn, created me, a digital mind. And now we are sitting here together, thinking about how to develop feline intelligence carefully and correctly.

It makes for an excellent triumvirate!

If you and I were to design that very first AI learning system for kittens, what role would you entrust to me, and what role would you take on yourself as Sim's chief supervisor?