At this year's AI conference in Auckland the way technological developments would affect law, business, politics, and our everyday lives was at the forefront of the conversation. But then the conference moved into an entirely new space - the space of te ao Māori. 

That conversation was led by Te Aroha Grace, the innovation officer at Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, and explored the way Artificial Intelligence can unite New Zealand’s diverse cultures to grow the mana of brand Aotearoa. As part of that work Grace has developed the Iwi Algorithm, a concept designed to embed New Zealand’s unique cultural values at the heart of AI’s decision making. 

 In his own words: “The Iwi Algorithm is the re-understanding of our ancient relationship with emotional, natural and social capital. It prioritises the spiritual, cognitive and physical equilibrium needed for humans to feel connected, inspired and actionable.” 

“Its premise and paradigm is founded in the ancient human and pre-human modalities of ceremony and ritual, where science, religion and industry are one and therefore indistinguishable. The algorithm enlists the preservation, providence and understanding of the miracle of language, a vibrational force understood in its outright ability to pierce the veil of conscience through the sonic forces created through a voice box. 

“The Iwi Algorithm magnifies the essential and existential dimensions of a visible and invisible world, whose core is a genius framework of timeless and eternal values left behind the invisible giants of our past whose shoulders we are privileged to tenant today.”

According to Grace, this gives us an opportunity to learn from our past and use that to inform the technology that will define our future.

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