University of British Columbia / Indigenous AI and 7th Gen Tech Design

We took our workshops to cyberspace in this iteration of the Skins Workshops. Collaborating with University of British Columbia and ACCESS for their AI bootcamp, we were brought in as a guest lecture and mini-workshop!

While we do not have workshops dedicated to building AI (yet!), instead we talked about Indigenous-led AI projects and initiatives, along with a discussion of ethics to consider. Of course, we talked about the Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence position paper, which is an attempt to capture multiple layers of a discussion that happened over 20 months, across 20 timezones, during two workshops, and between Indigenous people (and a few non-Indigenous folks) from diverse communities in Aotearoa, Australia, North America, and the Pacific. This group’s aim is to articulate a multiplicity of Indigenous knowledge systems and technological practices that can and should be brought to bear on the ‘question of AI.’

Afterwards, as a short break from screentime, we led a short 7th Gen Tech Design workshop where students were asked to design a piece of technology seven generations in the future. Using what they learned from the lecture portion, and from their time in the camp, they worked on iterating initial designs. One student asked why we do multiple iterations, and we were happy to answer that the process of iteration is an important part of the process. Not only is iteration used within many disciplines including programming and engineering!

For some, illustration may have been a step outside of their comfort zone, but we always encourage trying new mediums as many skills are often transferable. While we were online and couldn’t be around to see everyone’s process, students were eager to share their ideas with us at the end of the workshop. Chii Miigwech to UBC and ACCESS for inviting us!

Until next time!

Check out the position paper here: https://www.indigenous-ai.net/position-paper/