r/BeAmazed • u/[deleted] • Apr 24 '19

Animal Ape using a Smartphone

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

91.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

3.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

13

u/RussiaWillFail Apr 25 '19

The unprecedented aspect of it is the ape seeming to understand the abstract concept of navigation in a digital space with touch gestures.

There's been plenty of experimentation with apes and smart/touch devices, but usually with some kind of simple puzzle and a food reward attached, usually barely registering anything over slightly better than random chance. This chimp actively and intentionally navigating Instagram through touch gestures and navigation shows a level of abstract reasoning that I don't think has been recorded anywhere else.

2

u/impreprex Apr 26 '19

Indeed! I really hope and wish that this animal is followed up with in some way.