A data scientist developing natural language processing tools for te reo Māori and other indigenous languages is warning of the risks of major technology companies overwhelming Māori initiatives.
Keoni Mahelona, the chief techical officer for Te Hiku Media, says big tech companies like Open AI and Google are taking data at scale to build their tools – but they don’t have any accountability back to the communities that generate the data.
He says they want to tick boxes for diversity or inclusivity as part of their business strategy, they don’t prioritise the things that are important for Maori and indigenous communities.
“When push comes to shove they are going to release rpoducs that do more harm to te reo Maori solely because they know it will allow them to bring in more revenue in Aotearoa rather than holding off on these products, Google Translate for example, and waiting until we are happ¥ with the quality of reo it provides,” he says.
Mr Mahelona says.
He says initiatives like Apple’s new partnership with Te Pukenga to get more Maori and Pasifika trained up to write apps is postive for those who take part, but the real winner is Apple which gets a workforce that can build products for its ecosystem.
