In conversation with my Nanny: Resisting colonial threats to thinking in an age of AI - Dr Kiri West
Schedule
Tue, 28 Apr, 2026 at 12:00 am
UTC+12:00Location
University of Otago | Dunedin, OT
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In conversation with my Nanny: Resisting colonial threats to thinking in an age of AI - Kiri West (co-hosted with Te Maea Research Theme)
In (un)settler states, such as Aotearoa, data have become powerful in the way that they can be wrapped around a story to constrict and suffocate it, until all that is left are lifeless insidious ‘truths’ squeezed of meaning, devoid of context. These ‘truths’ are then put to work, justifying and determining who will have access to rights and resources, and who will not. From a Māori Data Sovereignty perspective, this erasure of context from data fits neatly within a broader structure of coloniality. The growing prominence of artificial intelligence in all areas of life makes this claim all the more pressing.
In this presentation I resist this expression of coloniality and consider a narrative approach for theorising mātauranga Māori and AI. I argue that AI poses a quiet but significant risk to Māori ways of knowing and understanding - not only through data sovereignty concerns, but through the subtle erosion of the conditions under which kurahuna, intuition and unexpected discovery can emerge.
Drawing on the stories written by my own kuia, I ask, if decolonisation requires us to dream differently, what are we giving away when we outsource our thinking to AI? By (re)centering tupuna narratives as a methodology for the future, I illustrate resisting the AI creep. In doing so, I invite the (story)listener to reflect on how they themselves might resist coloniality through the telling of their own stories.
Dr Kiri West (Ngāti Maru (Hauraki), Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngati Whanaunga) is a Māori researcher, kaupapa Māori theoriser, communication lecturer and reluctant storyteller. Her research background includes Māori data sovereignty, tikanga, and technology and research ethics. In an increasingly digitised world, she is interested in the ways in which we can give meaning to the above fields through the telling of our own stories.
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Where is it happening?
University of Otago, 72 Union Pl, North Dunedin, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand, DunedinEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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