Essay: LLMs and Animal Communication Challenge Human Linguistic Exceptionalism
begusgasper · x · 2026-10-01
In a Substack essay, Berkeley linguist Gasper Begus argues that new evidence from LLMs and animal communication is challenging human linguistic exceptionalism—echoing how pre-Darwin linguistics (William Jones's 1786 Sanskrit-Greek insight) paved the way for evolution 70 years before Darwin. He contends the next intellectual revolution is recognizing humans as one of many diverse intelligences, requiring our legal, societal, and value systems to adjust accordingly.
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