US fear colonisation as AI learns languages
Whisper, launched in September by the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, was trained on 680,000 hours of audio from the web, including 1381 hours of the te reo Māori.
Indigenous tech and culture experts say that, while such technologies can help preserve and revive their languages, harvesting their data without consent risks abuse, distorting of Indigenous culture, and depriving minorities of their rights.
"Data is like our land and natural resources," Karaitiana Taiuru, a Māori ethicist and an honorary academic at the University of Auckland, said.
"If Indigenous peoples don't have sovereignty of their own data, they will simply be re-colonised in this information society."
OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
Link to article: Indigenous groups in NZ, US fear colonisation as AI learns languages | RNZ News
