I read the article, and it seems like it could be an important difference for some types of biology research, if they actually verify it isn't found in other species that they haven't checked yet.
But my initial reaction to the headline was about AI research. My personal belief is that if you are looking at biology for help creating more powerful general purpose AI (AGI or "strong AI"), the idea that humans are special is actually mostly wrong and is counter-productive. For example there were many earlier efforts that emphasized reproducing the more rational aspects of human cognition (things animals seemed unable to do), but those turned out to be dead ends for AGI. Computers can do automated mathematical problem solving or proofs or play chess much better than humans, but it turns out that much of what people do doesn't have cut-and-dried rules that we can just enter in.
Most, if not all of the capabilities that have been more difficult to achieve in AI are shared between humans and animals. If anyone has had a pet they might have noticed some abilities that may or may not have seemed particularly smart at that time. But when you start to look at it from the perspective of reproducing those abilities in robots, no one has come close. And those capabilities are shared with humans and can be mapped to higher-level abilities.
For example, start with the advanced vision and motor systems that work together in the average house cat. Add in the ability to communicate and coerce humans into providing fresh food and water at will (ok, my cat was spoiled). The desire and ability of the cat to play in a slightly creative way -- my cat would look at me, arch her back, puff up her tail, tilt her head, as a clear communication that she wanted me to play chase with her. Then she would run and find a new place to hide. Or she would run up and smack me with both paws on the ankle at the same time, check that I had noticed and then run away -- another invitation to play. (Coincidentally, tag was also by far my nephew's favorite game when he was little.)
I guess I don't really have the motivation today to make a really in-depth and convincing argument here. But at least consider making artificial cats before you make artificial humans. Even if you don't agree that it is a big step towards reproducing human abilities. Because cats _can_ be pretty great, but litter boxes are disgusting.