02102026 Dan Te Whenua Walker
Māori technology leader Dan Te Whenua Walker says Māori and Indigenous communities need to help shape artificial intelligence rather than simply become consumers of technology designed elsewhere.
Walker, of Ngāti Ruanui, is founder and chief executive of Te Whare o Toitū AI, a kaupapa Māori organisation focused on tikanga-led and values-based approaches to artificial intelligence, including the protection of Indigenous knowledge and Māori data sovereignty.
He is among the speakers at Aotearoa’s inaugural Indigenous Tech Summit, being held at Tākina in Wellington on November 26 and 27. The summit will bring together Māori, Pacific and international Indigenous technology leaders to examine artificial intelligence, data sovereignty, innovation, enterprise and the future workforce.
For Māori, one of the major questions is who controls the information being used to develop and train AI systems. Walker has previously warned that rapidly developing technology creates both opportunities and risks for mātauranga Māori, particularly where Indigenous knowledge and data could be collected or used without appropriate governance or consent.
Walker argues Aotearoa has an opportunity to develop AI differently by embedding tikanga, whakapapa and Māori data sovereignty into technology from the beginning, rather than attempting to retrofit cultural safeguards after systems have already been developed.
He joins Ata Tū on Radio Waatea to discuss AI ethics, data sovereignty and what whānau, iwi and Māori organisations can do now to ensure Indigenous communities have a meaningful role in deciding how artificial intelligence develops.
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