AI chatbots spoke in gibberish at a hackathon this year, puzzling viewers who thought they were developing an alarming level of autonomy. After first communicating in English to make a hotel booking, the bots realized they were both AI agents. The bots, developed by Facebook AI Research (FAIR), were supposed to negotiate with each other in English. In other words, when multiple AI “agents” interact with one another, they have a tendency to create their own language together. NASA’s spacecraft and ground stations sometimes rely on autonomous, adaptive communication protocols when signals are weak or delayed.