Hey Siri, an ancient algorithm may help you grasp metaphors: Study tracks the cognitive steps humans have taken over centuries to create and comprehend metaphoric language

But new UC Berkeley research suggests that Siri and other digital helpers could someday learn the algorithms that humans have used for centuries to create and understand metaphorical language. Mapping 1,100 years of metaphoric English language, researchers at UC Berkeley and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania have detected patterns in how English speakers have added figurative word meanings to their vocabulary. The results, published in the journal Cognitive Psychology, demonstrate how throughout history humans have used language that originally described palpable experiences such as "grasping an object" to describe more intangible concepts such as "grasping an idea." "The use of concrete language to talk about abstract ideas may unlock mysteries about how we are able to communicate and conceptualize things we can never see or touch," said study senior author Mahesh Srinivasan, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. "Our results may also pave the way for future advances in artificial intelligence."