Introducing (or reintroducing) you to the SkoBot, a long form video. Language preservation of Indigenous languages is crucial. These robots (called SkoBots) were designed alongside my mentors to go to youth for free and supplement community language learning (never replaces it). This was made to see what the future of Anishinaabe toys could look like entirely by youth. This version is our latest prototype in our children’s voices series that implements an internally created (and brand new) app that can recognize speech and reply in audio files, voiced in placeholder audio clips by Amara (low quality test audio) which will later be replaced by whole phrases with good quality audio once everything is finished being recorded and documented. The goal is for other little kids to be able to see themselves reflected in an Anishinaabe toy. We have several other languages and can expand to others, but are focusing largely on an Anishinaabemowin version in our several dialects. While the robot can recognize being talked to, we do NOT use Al in a way that impacts the Indigenous languages, we never own the audio files, we never sell language tools or robots or give them to people outside of our community.
Our ethical tech frameworks took us years to develop. This is a project of @steamconnection . They’re available via a limited trial release for free to tribal language programs and schools who can work with us on improving the robots. They are not currently available to individuals. Our scale has been as slow and sustainable as possible
We are thankful for the platform to be able to share about the importance of AI ethics, how technology is impacting Indigenous communities, and about our work on the SkoBots: language revitalization robots for Anishinaabemowin. Here’s a few articles from this week that our work was featured in!
Please note that generally, we do not get to see drafts of the pieces or even offer interviews or comments so they may not be 100% accurate. For any official statements, please reach out to us for comment at [email protected]
If technology is going to affect us, we must have a say in how it’s made. The harm from generative AI is already too great, even distorting our languages. But what if we could design the technologies that impact our communities our way (environmentally sustainable, trained ethically, community built) instead?
That’s why I believe it’s vital to equip our community members with the skills and knowledge to fight back, and to build. Not all AI use cases are harmful, and not all have the same environmental impact or even water use. There’s a LOT of misinformation. And that misinformation is harming us. Change means resisting the harms of corporate AI while leaning toward small-scale, locally run, and culturally grounded technologies.
Because when we understand tech, we can shape it - on our terms.
These are clips of my remarks for the UN’s commemoration of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, on 8 August 2025. The panel was titled Indigenous Peoples and Al: Defending rights, shaping futures. If you missed the event, you can find the whole panel and my full statements and more information about my work with the SkoBots online
Ahhhh! I’m so thrilled to work alongside other young leaders as an @InsideNatGeo Young Explorer! We’re tackling challenges, seeking solutions, and working together for a better future. This honor will help me further my work developing my SkoBots. Miigwech. #NatGeoExplorer
