Which Kyoto University chimpanzee, Ayumu's mother, learned to use Arabic numerals? Ai. She was the first subject of Kyoto University's Ai Project, launched in 1978 to study chimpanzee cognition through computer-based experiments.
Researchers trained Ai to interact with a customized keyboard and computer interface. Her work included learning numbers, remembering images, and ordering colors. Tetsuro Matsuzawa described her as the first chimpanzee to use Arabic numerals to represent numbers, making her a landmark subject in comparative cognition.
Ai was born around 1976 in West Africa and arrived at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute in 1977. She gave birth to Ayumu in 2000; Ayumu later became famous for exceptionally rapid short-term memory in number-location tests. A common mix-up is reversing the names: Ai is the mother and original researcher, while Ayumu is her son and a later experimental subject.