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The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants

byKaren Bakker

Karen Bakker explores the emerging field of digital bioacoustics, where microphones, sensors, and artificial intelligence reveal communication beyond human hearing. Researchers listen to whales, elephants, bats, insects, plants, forests, coral reefs, and other living systems, uncovering signals and patterns once inaccessible. The technology may improve conservation by detecting species and environmental change, but it also raises questions about surveillance, interpretation, ownership, and interference. Bakker argues that hearing more of the living world can challenge assumptions about intelligence and language, while creating new responsibilities toward beings whose voices technology has made audible.

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Publication date

2022

Format

Print edition

Pages

—

ISBN

9780691206288