Seminar - Assigning Indigenous Properties to the Agent-Based IT Artifact Ensemble

School of Engineering and Computer Science Seminar

Speaker: Kevin Shedlock
Time: Wednesday 26th June 2019 at 11:20 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Alan MacDiarmid Building AM102
URL: https://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Main/KevinShedlock

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Abstract

Today, many digital representations are emerging as being traditional, indigenous or cultural versions of the IT artefact created. Technology such as mobile applications and social media platforms are beginning to present indigenous narratives, images and audio files in a new light. With the explosion of IT artefacts for indigenous peoples comes the problem, "in whose image is the world being portrayed". The IT artefact is in danger of disconnecting indigenous communities from their core world-views. To solve such challenges, indigenous communities require a model of technology that goes beyond the observations of monolithic Eurocentric analysis, one that uses theory as an agent for change, but acts in ways that are accountable to the indigenous community and not just academia. However, transmitting indigenous knowledge using the digitally focused IT artefact comes with its own challenges. Any attempts to match indigenous knowledge using a computer binary format in aligning with indigenous acts of communication, interaction and reaching agreement is a complex task such as compiling the architecture of code itself. For indigenous communities to respond to these types of challenges, they must seek to build their own understandings of algorithms and models to drive computer generated applications. Now is the time to give attention to the IT artefact as being indigenously framed. This study applies a multidisciplinary theoretical approach to automate a New Zealand Maori welcoming ceremony to digitally "meet and greet" visitors entering traditional Maori grounds. Using an agent-based model, the study reveals a framework for an indigenous socio-technical system (iSTS) to house an intelligent agent whose tasked-environment is to deliver indigenous priorities, practices and processes in pursuit of a complex problem.

Keywords: Indigenous Technology, IT Artifact, Artificial Intelligence, Model-based Agent, Intelligent Agents.

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