A chimpanzee named Ai, celebrated for her remarkable cognitive skills including the recognition of over 100 Chinese characters and the complete English alphabet, has passed away at the age of 49, as reported by Japanese research institutions.
Ai, a name signifying “love” in the Japanese language, was instrumental in a series of investigations delving into perception, learning, and memory. These studies significantly augmented humanity’s comprehension of primate intellect, according to a declaration released by the Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior at Kyoto University.
Her demise on Friday was attributed to the failure of multiple organs and chronic conditions associated with advanced age, the academic institution confirmed.
Beyond her proficiency with Chinese logograms and the alphabet, Ai also demonstrated an ability to identify the Arabic numerals from zero through nine and distinguish between eleven distinct colours. This was noted by primatologist Tetsuro Matsuzawa in 2014.
In one notable experiment, researchers presented Ai with a digital display featuring the Chinese character for the colour pink. She was then shown a pink square and a contrasting purple square. Ai consistently selected the pink square, as documented by Matsuzawa.
When presented with an image of an apple, she was able to construct a “virtual apple” on the computer screen by arranging a rectangle, a circle, and a dot, he explained.
Her exceptional capabilities led to her being featured in numerous academic publications and media presentations, including research disseminated in the esteemed journal Nature. These contributions solidified her reputation as a “genius” in popular discourse.
This West African chimpanzee became part of the university’s research community in 1977. In the year 2000, Ai gave birth to a son, Ayumu, whose developing abilities subsequently illuminated the complexities of intergenerational knowledge transfer, as conveyed by Japan’s Kyodo News agency.
The research conducted with Ai was pivotal in establishing “an experimental paradigm for elucidating the chimpanzee psyche, thereby providing an indispensable foundation for contemplating the evolution of the human mind,” the Center stated.
“Ai exhibited profound curiosity and actively engaged in these research endeavors, thereby unveiling diverse facets of the chimpanzee intellect for the very first time.”
