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 soil
Te reo lives in circuits now
Both 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 speak
but do they know te reo?
Our voice, not their tool.
———————————–
Te Ao Matihiko (2)
Glowing screens at dawn
ancient eyes in data streams
awa still flows on.
———————————–
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.
———————————–
Mana Motuhake
Code is not neutral
it shapes who holds the power
we reclaim the frame.
———————————–
Tipu Ake AI
Let AI grow wild
like harakeke and truth
not in concrete rows.
———————————–