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I've always heard that crows are incredibly smart. Great story. :)

by drobati 12y ago

wozniacki 12y ago
Crows are incredibly smart. They are known to memorize curbside garbage pick up routes of city vehicles and the specific days for each neighborhood, within a city. They are also quick to adapt, given a change in schedule and only visit those specific neighborhoods only on those specific days, from miles away. Here's a video of crow performing a multi-step tool action test - a test of intelligence - for the first time, without guidance and solving it in the first attempt. [1] Crow Intelligence - Multi-Step Tool Action Test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY8-gP3Sw_8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY8-gP3Sw_8
- balabaster 12y ago
  This one's my favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUiGEDnf5e4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUiGEDnf5e4 Crow keeps undoing the guys shoe laces so he can steal the frying pan while the guy's doing his shoe laces up. Classic.
  - zzalpha 12y ago
    To be fair, that's pretty basic reinforcement learning. The other video, on the other hand, shows adaptation of existing knowledge to solve a problem, along with multi-step planning, which is really incredible!
    - sk5t 12y ago
      Only if the crow had significant experience with untying shoes as an opportunity to swipe something interesting... bit of a long shot, no?
      - zzalpha 12y ago
        You're over thinking it. On its own shoelaces are interesting. Pulling on the loose end may have started as curiosity. The person then puts the pan down to tie them. Crow grabs the lace again because, again, curious and playful (birds can be incredibly mischievous), and once again the pan reappears! Now we're in reinforcement territory. Now don't get me wrong, the crow learns fast. But it still could be just basic reinforcement of a natural behavior, which is the same technique used to teach various animals "tricks".
        balabaster 12y ago
        It makes me want to tame a crow because it's animals with these kinds of personalities I love. They make life fun.
    - balabaster 12y ago
      That may be true, but the more advanced one isn't nearly as funny :P
- zzalpha 12y ago
  It's important to recognize that this crow would have been exposed to these types of problems before, so each problem element is likely familiar. But, the act of synthesizing that knowledge, applying that knowledge to a new problem, formulating a plan, and executing it... that really is incredible!

I've always heard that crows are incredibly smart. Great story. :)

by drobati 12y ago

I've always heard that crows are incredibly smart. Great story. :)

Crows are incredibly smart. They are known to memorize curbside garbage pick up routes of city vehicles and the specific days for each neighborhood, within a city. They are also quick to adapt, given a change in schedule and only visit those specific neighborhoods only on those specific days, from miles away. Here's a video of crow performing a multi-step tool action test - a test of intelligence - for the first time, without guidance and solving it in the first attempt. [1] Crow Intelligence - Multi-Step Tool Action Test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY8-gP3Sw_8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY8-gP3Sw_8

balabaster 12y ago
This one's my favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUiGEDnf5e4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUiGEDnf5e4 Crow keeps undoing the guys shoe laces so he can steal the frying pan while the guy's doing his shoe laces up. Classic.
- zzalpha 12y ago
  To be fair, that's pretty basic reinforcement learning. The other video, on the other hand, shows adaptation of existing knowledge to solve a problem, along with multi-step planning, which is really incredible!
  - sk5t 12y ago
    Only if the crow had significant experience with untying shoes as an opportunity to swipe something interesting... bit of a long shot, no?
    - zzalpha 12y ago
      You're over thinking it. On its own shoelaces are interesting. Pulling on the loose end may have started as curiosity. The person then puts the pan down to tie them. Crow grabs the lace again because, again, curious and playful (birds can be incredibly mischievous), and once again the pan reappears! Now we're in reinforcement territory. Now don't get me wrong, the crow learns fast. But it still could be just basic reinforcement of a natural behavior, which is the same technique used to teach various animals "tricks".
      - balabaster 12y ago
        It makes me want to tame a crow because it's animals with these kinds of personalities I love. They make life fun.
  - balabaster 12y ago
    That may be true, but the more advanced one isn't nearly as funny :P
zzalpha 12y ago
It's important to recognize that this crow would have been exposed to these types of problems before, so each problem element is likely familiar. But, the act of synthesizing that knowledge, applying that knowledge to a new problem, formulating a plan, and executing it... that really is incredible!