SAN DIEGO, CA — Just one week after the grand opening of the San Diego Zoo’s new “Uplifted Animals” section, the exhibit has been closed to the public until further notice. The decision comes in the midst of heated social media controversy after several videos surfaced online showing zoo-goers being verbally harassed by the zoo’s talking animals.
Wildlife creatures in the Uplifted Zoo have Neuralink brain-computer interface (BCI) implants that dramatically expand their intelligence and cognitive abilities, allowing them to process human language and communicate via speech. Although species such as chimpanzees, gorillas, lions, giraffes, and elephants lack the vocal cords necessary to speak, the animals’ Neuralinks can translate their thoughts then use text-to-speech software to transmit their words through audio speakers.
The Uplifted Animal exhibit was supposed to be a family-friendly experience where people could personally connect with other species in direct conversations. However, zoo-goers complained of constant racist, sexist, bigoted, perverted, violent, and hurtful language being hurled at them by the talking animals.
One mother was extremely upset after her toddler was traumatized by the words of a tiger the boy was watching through a window. “Stupid child, if this glass wasn’t here I would rip your f***ing head off and drink your blood!”1
Another viral clip captured a Bonobo shouting at a young woman, “Big breast female! Take clothes off and come here so me can [censored for explicit content].”2
Public backlash spread on social media, with many demanding the zoo shut down the uplifted wildlife exhibit immediately and cancel the problematic animals by removing their BCI implants. But animal rights activists, who opposed the implants in the first place, are now demanding the Neuralinks remain in place, claiming, “An uplifted animal cannot be un-uplifted without its consent.”3
Some zookeepers allege that the Neuralinks must have been hacked because the animals never used such explicit language during the private testing phase. Meanwhile conspiracy theorists believe the BCIs don’t work at all—that the animals are not “uplifted,” and an AI is generating their words to fool the public in a massive publicity scheme.4
The talking animal hatespeech incident has delayed Neuralink’s plans to sell mass-market BCIs to pet owners around the world. While the thoughts of a dog may be juvenilely adorable, one might be horrified by the wicked things their cat thinks about them. Plus there is growing fear of what uplifted creatures may do with their increased intelligence.
A spokesperson from the San Diego Zoo announced they will be downloading Sensitivity Training algorithms into the uplifted animals’ Neuralinks to prevent future hatespeech controversies. If successful, they hope to re-open the talking animal exhibit to the public sometime next month.
The zoo released surveillance video showing the boy mocking and teasing the tiger with silly faces beforehand.
Zookeepers recommend women to not dress so provocatively around uplifted animals.
The zoo declined our attempts to interview the uplifted animals directly for this article.
Zoo attendance has been in steady decline with the popularity of VR safaris. In the metaverse people can visit wildlife in its natural habitat—and meta-animals can talk too.