AI for Non-Human Animal Communication

The past few years have seen an unprecedented surge in both the availability of bioacoustic data and the sophistication of AI/machine learning models. This convergence presents a unique window of opportunity to revolutionize our understanding of animal communication and biodiversity. However, achieving this requires a conscious effort to integrate the disciplines of AI/Machine Learning and Ethology.

This workshop will explore the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and bioacoustics, aiming to address challenges in processing complex bioacoustic data and interpreting animal signals in order to advance our understanding of non-human animal communication. Join us for a poster session, keynote talks and a panel discussion as we explore key opportunities to use AI to decipher animal languages and thus deepen our understanding of the natural world.

We'll be posting more information as the workshop agenda is confirmed.

Call for Papers

We invite short papers and proposals papers related to using AI for non-human animal communication. The following are some relevant areas for consideration, but proposals are not limited to these topics.

Data
- Benchmarking and evaluation datasets
- Multimodal data
- Study designs for animal communications (passive/long duration versus cleaned specific examples versus experiments)
- Repositories and data sources
AI advancements
- Bioacoustics
- Multimodal learning
- New model architectures
- Transfer learning
- Large-language models
- Unsupervised, self-supervised, or supervised models
Applications and case studies
- Ecological impact and conservation monitoring
- Specific species studies
- Generalizability across species
Communication and cognition
- Linguistics
- Information encoding
- Experimental design
- Ethics

Important Dates

August 31, 2025 AOE

Paper Submission Deadline

September 22, 2025

Notification of Acceptance/Rejection

November 15, 2025

Camera-ready Materials Due

Submission Portal

Please use NeurIPS 2025 LaTeX style file for submissions.
Submissions must be anonymized.
The review process will be double-blind.

Submit Your Paper

Call for Reviewers

We also welcome applications to review, please express your interest to aiforanimalcomms@earthspecies.org.

Submission Tracks

We have two tracks for submissions of manuscripts: short papers and proposals. Submissions to this workshop are considered non-archival and thus may be submitted elsewhere in the future, but should represent novel work not previously published.

Papers Track

We welcome submissions of brief research papers that summarize the context, methods, and results of a study or set of experiments. Please limit your submission to 4 pages excluding references and supplementary materials. Reviewers will not be required to read or review the supplementary content and will evaluate the papers based on the main content. Papers should have the following components:

Introduction/motivation - what is the study objective and why does it matter?
Methodology - describe the methods and/or models used
Results - summarize key findings
Conclusions

Proposals Track

The proposals track is intended for articulating new ideas for research or forward-looking advancements that do not have finalized results, or for proposing how concepts from interdisciplinary or domain research would apply in AI development or applications in the domain of animal communication.

Evaluation Criteria

Impact and significance of the research — Is the question well-motivated by prior research? Can the methods and findings be generalized to other species or studies? Does the research resolve a previously unresolved challenge in the use of AI?
Collaboration — does the research involve collaboration with domain experts and scientists outside of the field of AI?
Appropriateness of the methodology
Clarity of communication
Ethical considerations

FAQs

Can I submit work I've published previously?

Submissions should be novel work not previously published within machine learning conferences - however, new findings that build on prior work are welcome. We may consider new presentations of work previously published in applied scientific journals on a case-by-case basis as long as the findings were not previously published.

What happens if my submission is accepted?

We will be hosting a poster session and potentially a short series of talks on successful papers (the schedule for the day is still TBC). Please note that talks will take place in person; we are not able to support virtual presentations.