Planet of the Apes IRL, soon? Scientists say chimpanzees can speak like humans — they just need the right care

If you’ve watched any video of a gorilla or chimpanzee just lazing about, you know how eerie it feels. Their subtle facial expressions and movements feel so familiar, almost making it feel like they actually possess the ability to make basic conversation — they just don’t feel the need to for any apparent reason. Then, almost immediately, the ape in question runs chest-thumpingly towards the camera, quickly reminding you that they are, in fact, probably as dumb as you initially assumed. Or are they?

A new study has suggested that our closest primate relatives might be capable of more than just grunts and hoots — they might just need the right nurturing environment to unleash their vocal potential. The research follows a small team of speech specialists and psychologists who delved into the dusty archives of old videos and emerged with startling evidence: at least three chimpanzees had learned to speak human words.

Why can we speak?

The quest to understand why humans are the only primates that have evolved the complex ability of speech has puzzled scientists for years. While great apes have been known to communicate using vocal sounds, their use of a structured spoken language has remained elusive. Some researchers attributed this to differences in throat physiology, while others pointed to the intricacies of the primate brain.
However, this new research posits a third possibility: that chimpanzees do possess the potential to speak human words, albeit in a rudimentary form. The key lies in creating the right conditions.

Unfair dismissal?

To that end, the researchers highlighted an intriguing case from the past — a husband-and-wife team who adopted an infant chimpanzee and raised it in their home, attempting to teach it simple words like "mama," "papa," and "cup." Despite their efforts, their work was dismissed over time, deemed unethical for separating the chimp from its natural mother.

Undeterred by this historical dismissal, the new team of researchers scoured through hours of old footage and online videos, searching for evidence of chimpanzees attempting human speech. They found one particularly notable video from the husband-wife team's collection that captured the chimpanzee uttering the word "papa" not once, but three times, and even managing a solitary "cup."
Another video, unearthed from the vast archives of YouTube, showed a chimp named Johnny clearly saying "mama." And from Italy, another piece of footage featured a chimp making the same maternal utterance. While the pronunciation of these words was far from perfect, the researchers described these attempts as "essentially word-like." This, they suggest, indicates that given the right circumstances, great apes can indeed produce human-like speech.

This revelation opens a Pandora's box of possibilities and questions. If chimpanzees can be taught to speak rudimentary human words, what does this mean for our understanding of communication and the evolution of speech? How ethical is it to teach them in this manner, and what are the implications for their well-being?

The study's authors urge the scientific community to re-evaluate past dismissals and to consider the potential of great apes with fresh eyes. This research may have nudged us one step closer to the fantastical worlds imagined in "Planet of the Apes."

The findings of this study have been published in Scientific Reports and can be accessed here.