Māori Data Sovereignty and the Future of AI in Aotearoa
Full Show Notes: https://www.theintelligenceagepodcast.com/848
Mark Smith talks with Lee Timutimu, a Māori technology leader and entrepreneur, about AI literacy, Māori digital equity and data sovereignty. Lee reflects on building Tuhi, a Māori-created AI scribe for Health New Zealand, and the challenges of working with a government agency. They discuss sovereign AI and cloud infrastructure, the potential for community-owned digital hubs, and how to support Māori communities to shape AI’s future.
Key topics and takeaways
- AI literacy and inclusion: Lee sees a persistent gap in foundational AI knowledge and describes Māori AI Wānanga as a way for Māori practitioners to collaborate on a vision that can support communities.
- Building Tuhi: Lee shares the story of developing a Māori-created AI scribe for Health New Zealand, including the importance of trusted, reciprocal partnerships and the difficult lessons of the engagement.
- Māori data sovereignty: The conversation explores who controls sensitive data, where it is stored, and why local hosting alone does not necessarily mean a community has control.
- Sovereign infrastructure: Lee expects more interest in sovereign cloud, open-weight models and locally controlled AI infrastructure.
- Community digital hubs: Mark and Lee discuss the potential for marae-based hubs and connected local data centres to support digital access, enterprise and resilience.
- Looking ahead: Lee plans to publish a community vision statement, pursue PhD research on AI, and continue work on an agentic AI delivery platform.
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Thanks for listening 🚀 – Mark Smith