AI is changing Māori culture

Angry AI bot behind a driving wheel

It’s a cultural norm for Māori to mihi or greet people with a ‘Kia ora’ or other salutation. This is done in person, 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 … Read more

Māori and AI Book Chapter

PSA AI For Good book title page

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

Introduction to Facial Recognition bias

Maori man being analysed with FRT

Now, more than ever, it is important to learn the basics of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) bias and the impacts on Māori communities, including the need to recognise Māori data sovereignty Principles. Recent developments include: New Zealand considering Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) for retail stores with an advisory panel of no Māori, AI drones for … Read more

NZ AI Productivity Report and Māori

Karaitiana Taiuru at AI Forum launch

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.” This edition also for the first time introduced a Te Ao … Read more