--- title: Explaining AI using whakatauki description: Explore the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and mātauranga Māori in preserving traditional practices and promoting understanding. url: https://www.taiuru.co.nz/2025/07/ai-explained-matauranga/ markdown_url: https://www.taiuru.co.nz/2025/07/ai-explained-matauranga.md type: post slug: ai-explained-matauranga author: Karaitiana Taiuru published: 2025-07-14T03:42:08Z modified: 2026-10-10T00:25:41Z language: en-NZ taxonomies: category: - Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Māori Data Sovereignty and Governance - Te Reo Māori - Tech Tikanga Māori word_count: 1312 tokens: 2638 --- # Explaining AI using whakatauki I have over the years shared some mātauranga Māori and compared it to AI, I am hoping to revive our pre traditional practices of using pepeha, moemoea, waiata, oriori and other oral preservation and learning resources to assist Māori to understand AI is a powerful tool. Despite Māori being at the crossroads of new digital colonisation or digital empowerment with AI, there has only been one haka that I am aware of about AI. The following use publicly available mātauranga Māori and are written in English and Maori, in a hope to encourage others to create more resources in both reo Māori me reo Pākehā. These are a mixture of Haiku and poems below. Authors will be credited for contributing.     Reo Māori Ai versus Artificial Intelligence AI Cold mind, wires awake not like flesh that dreams and joins, life sparks where we touch. ———————————– Tipuna & Code Whakapapa hums through wires, unseen but present Tipuna watch code. ———————————– Decolonising AI Colonial code cannot read our tikanga we rewrite the script. ———————————– He Kōrero mō te AI, mō te ai I te rangi tūhāhā, ka whiti te rama, Ko te mārama hangarau ka tiaho ki te ao. He mīharo, he tipua, ko te āhua o te AI, He rorohiko e ako ana, e matapae ana i te wā kei mua. Engari kei raro i te pō, ka kōrero ngā tīpuna, E kore e taea e te mīhini te manaaki i te ira tangata. Ko te ai, he taonga tuku iho, he hono i te ira, He whakapapa e rere ana i te toto, i te manawa ora. Ka whakaaro te tangata, ka hanga i te mīhini, Hei āwhina, hei wero, hei whakaata hoki i a tātou. Engari me ui tātou — nā wai te whakaaro? Ka whai mana rānei te AI i te mana o te ai? Ko te ai, he tapu, he mauri, he ūkaipō, E noho ana i waenganui i te aroha me te orokohanga. Ko te AI, ahakoa mohio, kāore e māmā te mārama, Ki te ngākau o te tangata, ki te tino wairua o te ao. Nā reira, e te hunga rangahau, e te hunga hanga, Kia mataara! Kia āta tiro ki ngā hua e whakatupu ana. Kaua e wareware ki te taiao, ki te tikanga, Me noho kaitiaki, ehara i te rangatira i te ao hangarau. ———————————– Māori Futures AI in our hands not to tame, but to reflect Te ao hurihuri. ———————————– Digital Kaitiaki Kaitiaki rise with fibre and algorithm guarding data’s soul. ———————————– Dual Worlds Silicon meets soil Te reo lives in circuits now Both worlds co exist. ———————————– Tipuna today We are today’s ethnographers We are tomorrows Tipuna AI is our modern colonial tool we can make a taiaha Let us not forget Tipuna watch, we record Code mimics, but not knows who is the kaitiaki Māori o te ao ora ———————————– Tupato Observe, listen, write echoes of old in new hands we trace living roots Footsteps in Papa Kōrero from Rangi Tomorrow calls you by name Tipuna in bloom Silent algorithms machine learning bots Data confiscation mapping Māori without consent stolen taonga are gone Ancient winds whisper mātauranga holds the threads truths beneath the soil truths from all above Tipuna all around us we etch stories into time their breath in our screens Silent lines click, click, click shadows of thought, not mauri code cannot be life who is the kaitiaki. ———————————– Ko wai a AI Nō te Pō, ki te Pō, Ki te ma, nō te ma Nō hea koe, ko wai koe, Nō ngā aitua Ko Hinengaro Ko Tāne Māhuta Ngā kete toru Ko au te atua Hiko Hinengaro ———————————– Reclaiming Voice Machines learn to speak but do they know te reo? Our voice, not their tool. ———————————– Tikanga Code Lines of code are read but whose values guide their path? Let tikanga lead. ———————————– Whenua and Wires Satellites above do not map mauri or wairua we see what they miss. ———————————– Data Sovereignty Clouds hold our stories but whose sky do they drift in? Hold fast to the ground. ———————————– Moko in the Grid Facial recognition sees moko as a pattern we see whakapapa. ———————————– Mana Motuhake Code is not neutral it shapes who holds the power we reclaim the frame. ———————————– Tikanga in Tech Efficiency calls but we wait for consensus tikanga is slow. ———————————– Wānanga of Light Screens flicker at night like stars of a new cosmos we still hold the map. ———————————– Tipu Ake AI Let AI grow wild like harakeke and truth not in concrete rows. ———————————– Data & Whakapapa Each byte has a name a story, a line, a link not just information. ———————————– Kaitiaki Firewalls Guardians of code stand between the tide and shore with kupu as shields. ———————————– Forgotten Tikanga Digital marae without pōwhiri or care where is the tapu? ———————————– Wairua in AI Wairua hums low through wires, sensors, and steel if we choose to hear. ———————————– Algorithmic Utu Bias repeats harm unless we code for balance utu in the cloud. ———————————– Rārangi Mauri Data in rows sing if you read with open heart mauri is still there. ———————————– A lesson to Māori with AI We are tomorrows Tipuna AI is our modern colonial tool we can make a taiaha Let us not forget Tipuna watch, we record Code mimics, but not knows who is the kaitiaki Māori o te ao ora ———————————– A lesson to Māori with AI Observe, listen, write echoes of old in new hands we trace living roots Footsteps in Papa Kōrero from Rangi Tomorrow calls you by name Tipuna in bloom Silent algorithms machine learning bots Data confiscation mapping Māori without consent stolen taonga are gone Ancient winds whisper mātauranga holds the threads truths beneath the soil truths from all above Tipuna all around us we etch stories into time their breath in our screens Silent lines click, click, click shadows of thought, not mauri code cannot be life who is the kaitiaki ———————————– Ko wai a Artificial Intelligence? Nō te Pō, ki te Pō, Ki te ma, nō te ma Nō hea koe, ko wai koe, Nō ngā aitua Ko Hinengaro Ko Tāne Māhuta Ngā kete toru Ko au te atua Ko Hiko Hinengaro ———————————– Māori Futures AI in our hands not to tame, but to reflect Te ao hurihuri. ———————————– Digital Kaitiaki Kaitiaki rise with fibre and algorithm guarding data’s soul. ———————————– Dual Worlds Silicon meets soilTe reo lives in circuits nowBoth worlds co exist. ———————————– Tipuna today We are today’s ethnographers We are tomorrow’s Tipuna AI is our modern colonial tool we can make a taiaha Let us not forget Tipuna watch, we record Code mimics, but not knows who is the kaitiaki Māori o te ao ora ———————————– Tupato Observe, listen, write echoes of old in new hands we trace living roots Footsteps in Papa Kōrero from Rangi Tomorrow calls you by name Tipuna in bloom Silent algorithms machine learning bots Data confiscation mapping Māori without consent stolen taonga are gone Ancient winds whisper mātauranga holds the threads truths beneath the soil truths from all above Tipuna all around us we etch stories into time their breath in our screens Silent lines click, click, click shadows of thought, not mauri code cannot be life who is the kaitiaki. ———————————– Reclaiming Voice Machines learn to speakbut do they know te reo?Our voice, not their tool. ———————————– Te Ao Matihiko (2) Glowing screens at dawnancient eyes in data streamsawa still flows on. ———————————– Tikanga Code Lines of code are readbut whose values guide their path?Let tikanga lead. ———————————– Whenua and Wires Satellites abovedo not map mauri or wairuawe see what they miss. ———————————– Mana Motuhake Code is not neutralit shapes who holds the powerwe reclaim the frame. ———————————– Tipu Ake AI Let AI grow wildlike harakeke and truthnot in concrete rows. ———————————–