Kaipara District Council’s use of AI technology to translate English into te reo Māori for official council documents has “disappointed” some AI experts.

Council’s chief executive Jason Marris says they are open to working with
AI experts to ensure the technology is used appropriately.

But the method has come under fire for being “highly disrespectful” to Māori.

Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson confirmed to the Advocate on Tuesday that council had trialled AI as a translation tool for its Annual Plan as part of his directive for an English-only version of the plan to be created ahead of a bilingual copy. The use of AI use was to cut costs as translating a document of that size could fetch a $14,000 bill.

His revelation sparked an independent response from New Zealand-based AI experts, Avant AI Consultants. The firm works with organisations and governing bodies to design and deliver effective AI frameworks.

Avant AI Consultants co-founder Josh McKenty reached out to the Advocate after reading Tuesday’s article, concerned by council’s use and the wider ramifications it may have on people’s openness to the technology.

“We are disappointed that the Kaipara Mayor seems to have made a number of false assumptions regarding AI, has not followed best practices and in the process has unfortunately broken a number of key AI ethical principles.”

McKenty said AI would “never be an adequate replacement for culture”.

“AI will never provide the same intricacies and context that local knowledge can bring to the table.”

Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora (Ngāti Whātua, Te Roroa, Ngāti Wai and Ngāpuhi) said the use of AI to translate te reo was “highly disrespectful”.

She said AI could never replicate the concepts expressed in te reo Māori and would be “a bastardisation” of the language.

McKenty said any AI expert would say organisations and governing bodies “should always” engage with the “right human” when the use of AI was being considered for indigenous works.

“It is critical for Aotearoa to start having these conversations, actively engage in AI training and set strong AI ethics policies.”

Speaking on behalf of the council, Marris said its staff were “very happy” to work with AI experts to ensure the technology was used appropriately and to make adjustments.

He expanded on Kaipara Mayor Jepson’s initial explanation, in which he said AI had been trialled and checked for accuracy internally and externally and had passed.

Marris said an informal translation test was carried out and was reviewed internally by staff, and externally by a Māori language expert – the name of whom was not provided.

“Feedback was that there would need to be changes to reflect correct wording and local language characteristics.”

Marris said council had been clear that any translation would need to be reviewed appropriately by language experts. In addition, he said council staff would be developing their “capability to work with AI” before using it in external documents.

“We have also advised that iwi would be asked to review any bilingual documents.”

But Paniora and Dame Naida Glavish have also been clear that iwi do not want te reo translated by AI.

Glavish, when told of the mayor’s directive, said the question that should be asked is: “How offensive do they want to be?”

McKenty hoped the council’s approach wouldn’t put people off from engaging with opportunities provided by the technology.

“Māori and all others living in remote areas such as Northland have the most to gain from the abilities of AI for learning and entrepreneurship. We are hopeful this won’t leave a bad taste in the mouth,” he said.

McKenty said they believed other New Zealand organisations trying to navigate the AI space could learn positive lessons from the Kaipara council’s situation.

Karina Cooper is deputy news director and covers breaking and general news for the Advocate. She also has a special interest in investigating what is behind the headlines and getting to heart of a story.