Māori cultural considerations with AI, Algorithms, Big Data and Robotics are discussed here as well as ethics and treaty of Waitangi values.
The digital age has many unknown consequences for Māori culture and history. I question if we need to be our own ethnographers in this rapidly changing digital world? Writing whakapapa or other important information for future generations in the sand at the low tide mark with no other record verbal or written is similar to writing a message on … Read more
Emotiki contains a number of culturally unsafe issues: the satirical use of a Polynesian deity Tiki, Tame Iti and the use of his face and tā moko without permission (only in release 1, despite their denial to Te Kaea Maori Television, here is a live link to the web archive), several other possible ethical and tikanga issues … Read more
The nature of the web and digital technologies leads Māori ICT organisations, kupu hou creation, Māori related software, web sites and digital tools to by default, ignore whakapapa in the digital world. I have already spoken widely about tikanga in the digital world on my site. Māori stories from many generations ago remind us of the early … Read more
New Zealand is made up of numerous colonial place and street names, as are organisations and brands. Likewise, there are many place, street, educational institutions and government organisations with Māori names. A Massey academic is suggesting a name change for Massey University – Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa as his research has revealed that its namesake was racist against … Read more
The media article on the blunder of using Google translate by a mayoral candidate created lots of social media discussions that focused only on the tool and its te reo Māori issues and not the subtle racism in the story. In summary: Hamilton mayoral candidate James Casson wanted to appeal to Māori voters and thought … Read more
Media reports censorship of moko images on Facebook and Instagram but some misunderstand which organisation can assist. In one article by Māori Television it states that the Ministry of Culture and Heritage have been approached for comment and it states: Te Kaea is awaiting a response from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage to see whether they will … Read more
Labeled as a Maui Costume for Kids based on the Disney movie Moana. The costumes are made to look like brown skin with Polynesian tattoos. UPDATED Disney pulls Maui costume 22/09/207 There are a number of issues for Polynesian cultures and for Māori special considerations will need to be considered around the Ta Moko (tattoo) as each ta mako is … Read more
Pokémon is a free location-based augmented reality game played on mobile phones which places creatures called Pokemon that can fight each other at randomly selected places including marae, wahi tapu and Urupa. Augmented reality is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment with a computer or other animation that can be seen … Read more
The free to distribute poster below can be downloaded for free to use in any taonga collection for a library, museum or place that has taonga Māori where food should not be consumed. The poster is in English and Chinese as its original purpose was for the Lincoln University Library where there is a high … Read more
Snapchat is the latest social media company to claim Intellectual Property Rights with your data, pics and info including your voice and facial recognition. Under these Terms of Service, if you had recorded your elder sending family a message does so in a traditional chant, wearing traditional clothes and accessories and the face has traditional tattoo, … Read more
A number of meme’s were produced from the recent Te Matatini Kapa Haka causing offence to the individuals whose images were manipulated. Recently, an incident occurred where memes featuring manipulated images from Te Matatini Kapa Haka performances were circulated online, causing distress to the individuals depicted. The situation began when an American social media platform known … Read more
My controversial thoughts about cyber tangi are below so as to raise debate/ideas and to make people think about cyber tangi, or to at least respect the rights of any whanau who want a cyber tangi. When my children’s mum from Taranaki suddenly and unexpectedly passed away almost three years ago at the age … Read more
I have had the fortunate experience of not knowing anyone with a heavy online presence that has passed away. But I have seen a few social media profiles with farewell messages to the person who has since deceased. This made me curious as to what the average Internet user who has multiple accounts and passwords … Read more