ACE (Adult and Community Education) Aotearoa conference

 Attended and presented at the ACE Aotearoa conference today, held in Otautahi (Christchurch). The conference began yesterday, with a hui/fono. The main conference runs today and tomorrow. I am facilitating a workshop today but will not be able to attend tomorrow. Therefore, notes only from today. 

The conference begins with a mihi whakatau (Māori welcome) and the theme is 'AI - bridging AI and ancestral intelligence

A series of 'setting the scene' presentations follow. These provide the context and background for the presentations and workshops that follow. Firstly, Tāwhiwhi mai i te tangata whenua - a special welcome from Ngāi Tuāhiri. Charmaine Tukua from Ara Institute of Canterbury provides the background on the conference theme - in Māori and then in English and the context in which the conference is situated.  she used her story to connect to the present challenges. Then, housekeeping/safety etc. and a scan of the ACE environment led by Te Ataahia Hurihanganui who used various activities to keep the momentum and positive vibes through the session. 

After lunch, the first keynote is with Dr. Karaitiana Taiuru who works extensively in the field of indigenous digital knowledge. Dr. Taiuru speaks on Te Ao Māori ethics and protecting mātauranga Māori. He did not use AI to create the presentation and as AI develops daily, it is up to date for today's presentation :) Warned that AI needs and will take Maōri mātauranga - if we do not take this warning, there is a risk of repeating the things that have always happened around digital colonialism, the risk of property rights abuses. Māori are ethnographers and we are the ancestors of AI knowledge.

Steps taken to protect Mātauranga Māori with AI include defining and understanding what is Māori data and what is Māori data governance, engage Māori stakeholders, label Māori data and create and implement Te Tiriti and Tikanga based principles that apply to your own context. Detailed the progress or lack of for each of these steps. 

Shared the various frameworks and guidelines/policies etc. already existing. Shared principles for AI creation. embedding Māori leadership, achieving equitable outcomes, active protection, effective stewardship and following tikanga through the AI development and deployment cycles. Be mindful of the principles - rangatiratanga, (authority) whakapapa relationships), whanaungatanga (obligations), kotahitanga (collective benefit), manaakitanga (reciprocity), kaitiakitanga (guardianship)

A panel followed to discuss Dr. Taiuru's presentation. The panel included Heidi Renata, Fesaitu Solomone, Ta’i Richards and Emily Broadmore. Each shared the impact and implications of AI in their contexts. A good overview of how AI impacts acroass industries and communities.

I then present a workshop with Jo Fox from Hagley Learning Centre  (twice) to introduce the concepts and principles derived from our work with supporting foundation/bridging learners to use AI to support learning. The workshops included time to try out the AI chatbot, developed by our third year computing students.