Te Kete o Karaitiana Taiuru (Blog)

Archive


  • Benefits to Māori of no Census

    Benefits to Māori of no Census

    The recent announcement by the government that the Census will cease in 2028 has been met with various reactions. Māori statisticians and academics with memberships and affiliations to Te Mana Raraunga and Iwi Leaders Data Group in particular are warning of issues for Māori and Iwi. As a Māori technologist/governor with Data and AI, I…

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  • Good news AI case study for Māori education

    Good news AI case study for Māori education

    According to their media release, the Writer’s Toolbox, a New Zealand and Australian education company who provide an educational writing programme powered by patented AI, designed to help students master writing, is having a serious impact on Māori students literacy achievements. After using Writer’s Toolbox [using a locally-built AI], Thornton School [Decile 5, in Whakatāne]…

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  • AI with IP Art and Reo webinar

    AI with IP Art and Reo webinar

    We successfully ran another free over subscribed (150 people) webinar, this month. The topic was on Māori and IP rights and Māori language with Artificial Intelligence. The recording is available at https://bit.ly/IPandReo. Next month, I will be discuss how Te Tiriti, He Whakaputanga and other legal instruments recognise Māori rights in relation to AI, including…

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  • Scribble moko online protest with unintended consequences

    Scribble moko online protest with unintended consequences

    Earlier this week the Honourable Winston Peters, in an open parliament debate about the punishment of three politicians of the Māori Party made what is considered a derogatory and racist comment about the Honourable Rawiri Waititi’s moko kanohi (traditional tattoo that covers the face, while a moko kauae is on the chin only of women).…

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  • Kiwi’s common concerns of AI

    Kiwi’s common concerns of AI

    One.nz released their AI Trust Report New Zealanders’ attitudes towards AI in 2025 today. Interestingly, it aligns to the research done by the AI Forum, PSA, InternetNZ, DataCom and many other New Zealand initiated research on AI. While One.nz report didn’t mention Māori or Pacifika, it did report on specific concerns about women and elderly,…

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  • Māori stats re AI, FRT and Privacy

    Māori stats re AI, FRT and Privacy

    The latest research by the Privacy Commission “Research on Privacy Concerns and Use of Personal Information March 2025” has a significant focus on Māori views which is welcomed.  There is a concentration on Facial Recognition Technologies (FRT) reinforcing well established facts. The limited AI questions could have been more extensive, and should have included Algorithms…

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  • AI with Māori IP, Art and Reo

    AI with Māori IP, Art and Reo

    Following on from my two previous successful online webinars Artificial Intelligence Impacts and Preparation for Māori – Environment and Employment, on June 05, 2025 at 1pm I will be discussing the implications and benefits of AI with Māori IP, Art and Reo Māori. Free registration is here . The tickets are capped at 125 and have been…

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  • AI is changing Māori culture

    AI is changing Māori culture

    It’s a cultural norm for Māori to mihi or greet people with a ‘Kia ora’ or other salutation when in person and written communications, and over the recent years in online video. In the early 2000’s when email was  relatively new, many Māori would include several sentences to a paragraph of mihimihi in each email…

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  • Māori and AI Book Chapter

    Māori and AI Book Chapter

    I had the privilege to contribute a chapter about benefits to Māori in the book ” Ten perspectives on Artificial Intelligence: in a rapidly evolving technology landscape, we need a strategic and ethical approach to AI in Aotearoa. Published April 2025 by the Public Service Association (PSA). I explore how Māori have the unique opportunity to…

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  • Risks of AI Action Figure Trend

    Risks of AI Action Figure Trend

    The AI action figure trend, where users generate personalised or stylised figures using AI tools (like custom avatars, toy-like images, or even physical 3D printed models based on AI renderings) carries several risks, particularly around privacy, ethics, cultural appropriation, and deepfake potential. From a Māori perspective, the AI action figure trend presents serious risks associated…

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  • Intro to Facial Recognition bias

    Intro to Facial Recognition bias

    Now, more than ever, it is important to learn the basics of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) bias and the impacts on Māori communities. Recent developments include: New Zealand considering Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) for retail stores with an advisory panel of no Māori, AI drones for the military, government agencies and employment recruiters are using…

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  • NZ AI Productivity Report and Māori

    NZ AI Productivity Report and Māori

    The Artificial Intelligence Forum of New Zealand (AI Forum) Te Kāhui Atamai Iahiko o Aotearoa, a purpose-driven, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) funded by members, released their second edition of it’s biannual “AI in Action report Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on New Zealand’s Productivity ” which also for the first time introduced a Te Ao…

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  • Reo Māori in Russian disinformation network

    Reo Māori in Russian disinformation network

    In 2014, I wrote how Google Translate brought te reo Māori into the new digital world with Spam and Phishing, etc. Now Artificial Intelligence (AI) is using te reo Māori in many new ways, including by the Russian backed Pravda group to provide news/disinformation to New Zealanders. Artificial Intelligence is deploying te reo Māori in…

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  • Monthly Te Ao Māori AI Webinars

    Monthly Te Ao Māori AI Webinars

    I am now offering free webinars from a Te Ao Māori perspective to assist Māori communities and those who interact with Māori communities and AI to better understand the risks and benefits of AI, and to attempt to myth bust some of the many incorrect rumours and fears in the communities, particularly in te ao…

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  • NZ Government Facial Recognition Technology

    NZ Government Facial Recognition Technology

    We use our image of our face as a modern-day password for many things including mobile banking, unlocking our phones, X (formerly Twitter), Firefox Klar and an ever-increasing number of other online services. For law enforcement agencies and retail security, Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) systems are used to decide many factors including who becomes a suspect…

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  • DeepSeek versus ChatGPT for Māori

    DeepSeek versus ChatGPT for Māori

    The introduction of the Chinese AI DeepSeek has been a popular media topic this week. Some of the topics include how much faster it is and how much cheaper it is to run. Concerns about how high-end computer chips were obtained by the Chinese company despite a trade ban on their expert to China from…

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  • AI Plagiarism of Māori Data and Storage

    AI Plagiarism of Māori Data and Storage

    It is a well documented fact in New Zealand and all over the world, that Artificial Intelligence and in particular Large Language Learning Models (LLMs) have been used for student plagiarism in schools, training institutes and universities. Not so well documented are the false notifications that result in innocent students being accused of cheating and…

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  • Inconsistencies with Facial Recognition Trial

    Inconsistencies with Facial Recognition Trial

    Foodstuffs North Island (FSNI) controversially started a Facial Recognition Trial in their stores for what they claimed to provide more protection to their staff. There are mountains of research and cases of innocent people of colour being falsely identified by Facial Recognition Technologies, false arrests, being identified as gorillas etc. In April this year, the…

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