AI project to expand te reo Māori initiated by Microsoft
Microsoft and digital translation specialist Straker have collaborated with New Zealand's Stuff to translate more content into te reo Māori using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Barry Soutar, co-founder and executive director of Toro Technology, is among those spearheading efforts to utilise technology to enhance and preserve Māori dialects and cultural practices.
Soutar, a member of various iwi, including Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu, highlighted the challenge of scaling language instruction across the many marae on New Zealand's East Coast. "The number of confident orators and dialect speakers on our marae is very small and reducing in number. The challenge is scaling the ability to teach across 75 different marae on the East Coast alone," he noted. He described the common experience of hearing local narratives pronounced in accents or dialects that do not accurately represent the regional variations of te reo Māori.
The solution may lie in advanced AI technologies. With support from Datacom's Futures + Insights team, Soutar and his group are leveraging Microsoft Azure's AI tools in a project based in Gisborne. They have utilised approximately 10,000 written or printed sentences, alongside 500 spoken phrases, to train an AI to accurately translate and speak the local Ngāti dialect. By the end of a five-week trial period, the AI is expected to coach human speakers on the correct pronunciation. Soutar envisions this as a test case to validate the capabilities of Azure and AI, with potential wider applications for other Māori dialects and languages globally.
"It's just a matter of time until Azure AI becomes proficient in Ngāti," Soutar remarked. He sees AI as a powerful resource in bridging the gap between traditional language speakers and current generations, who may not have grown up hearing their native dialects spoken authentically.
Dan Te Whenua Walker, a Partner Development Manager for Microsoft ANZ and member of Ngāti Ruanui, is also exploring AI's transformative potential through his own project named Te Rau o te Huia. Developed in honour of his grandmother, the custom AI serves as a virtual kuia, conveying wisdom and cultural knowledge to younger tribe members. "She has aroha for those who interact with her. She provides that point of connection and now young people can kōrero to her," Walker explained.
Both Walker and Soutar emphasise the importance of Māori culture in creating connections, particularly through the acknowledgement of whakapapa, or genealogy, when visitors come onto a marae. "By acknowledging whakapapa between visitors and your own hapū as they visit a marae, you're paying the highest respect, because you're acknowledging you know they come from somewhere, from respected people. You should not do that without the right dialect. Your dialect identifies you and your ancestors. It's strange to speak about your own history in someone else's voice," Soutar said.
While some critics argue that large-scale AI learning models could lead to cultural homogenisation, Soutar disagrees. He shared a personal anecdote illustrating AI's practical utility: "You tell me to be concerned about using AI? Well, I need to perform a karakia at an opening in a couple of weeks. I wanted to use an appropriate foundational blessing from our Hawaiki ancestors grounded in the creation times, but it's hard to understand the exact meaning of some of the old karakia, which helps me learn and retain the words. One obscure phrase I found in an old Taranaki waiata, and ChatGPT translated the song precisely in seconds. I use it every day," he revealed.
Echoing this sentiment, Soutar suggested that AI should be viewed as a tool intended to enhance productivity and efficiency. "I can imagine a time when you have an intelligent assistant giving you coaching in what is your own language and culture, adapted to your own learning style and pace. We're getting ready for the arrival of even more advanced AI platforms, and preparing other Māori to do the same," he concluded.
