AI systems are being trained to understand animal emotions, helping to identify pain and distress in animals through facial recognition and behavior analysis.
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| AI systems are helping researchers identify signs of animal pain and distress, with promising results from pigs, dogs, and horses using facial recognition technology. Image: ChicHue |
Bristol, UK — February 17, 2025:
Researchers are training artificial intelligence (AI) systems to interpret animal emotions, potentially revolutionizing our understanding of animal welfare. According to a recent feature in Science, AI could eventually help determine when animals are in pain or experiencing emotional distress, offering valuable insights for farmers, veterinarians, and animal caregivers.
One such project, developed by scientists at the University of the West of England Bristol and Scotland’s Rural College, focuses on a system called Intellipig. This system analyzes photos of pigs' faces to alert farmers to signs of pain, illness, or emotional distress. Similarly, a team at the University of Haifa, which previously used facial recognition to reunite lost dogs with their owners, is now working to train AI to recognize discomfort in dog faces. Since dogs share 38 percent of their facial movements with humans, the software has shown promise in detecting emotional cues.
These systems rely on extensive human observation to initially interpret animal behaviors, often based on years of studying how animals behave in different contexts. However, a groundbreaking experiment conducted at the University of São Paulo has demonstrated a more autonomous approach. Using photos of horses' faces taken before and after surgery, as well as before and after painkillers were administered, researchers trained an AI system to focus on the horses' eyes, ears, and mouths. The AI was able to learn autonomously which facial expressions indicated pain, achieving an impressive 88 percent success rate.
The advancements in AI-powered animal emotion recognition could significantly improve how humans care for and understand animals, potentially leading to more humane treatment and better healthcare interventions.