Te Reo Māori revitalisation and adaption with AI

ChatGPT ?has become a household name for many, and is usually in the mainstream media each day. There has been very little discussion about ChatGPT and the risks and benefits to Indigenous languages, and in particular Māori language – the indigenous language of New Zealand.

ChatGPT and other Artificial Intelligence (AI) Language Learning Models (LLM’s) such as Microsoft AI-Bing, Google Bard and the many others have already in a short period of time proven that they can learn a language, produce outputs of a language and be used as a teaching and translation tool. This article discusses how the Māori language can benefit and grow through AI tools using ChatGPT as a focus.

This article also discusses intellectual property rights and dispel some myths associated with AI and languages, while explaining that AI can also colonise the Māori language if not co designed with Māori.

The authors early career started with Māori language revitalisation in 1997, with a speciality using digital technologies to record and promote the Māori language revitalisation and regional dialects – with great success including a number of software products and technologies that pioneered Māori language revitalisation.

In the late 1990′ there were a lot of scare mongering and ill-informed statements about technology and its use with Māori language revitalisation. The author is seeing and hearing the same discussions about AI and the Māori language.

There are also differing opinions such as my long time Māori Language Revitalisation coleauge,?Te Taka Keegan ?sharing his views?here.

Disclaimer

I accept that this article may create mixed feelings with Māori language teachers and practitioners. It is a mixture of presentations and engagements recently about te reo Māori and AI integration.

I am not a Māori language expert. My expertise is with the Māori ethical usage of emerging technologies and a 30 year career in the Tech sector.

Background of the Māori language

The Māori language was on the brink of extinction in the late 1990’s. In 1900, 95% of Māori were fluent in te reo Māori, but by 1960 25% of Māori could speak Māori. Among children: only a quarter of Māori schoolchildren could speak Māori in 1953, and just 5% in 1975.

Between 1973 and 1979, Dr Richard Benton led a survey of 6470 Māori families throughout the North Island on their use of te reo Māori. He concluded there were about 64,000 fluent te reo Māori speakers, but that these speakers only felt secure speaking on marae and at certain religious observances. Another 30,000 Māori could understand conversational Māori. A major conclusion of Dr Benton’s study was that te reo Māori played a very marginal role in the lives of Māori children; of the 4090 households with children surveyed, only 170 had a youngest child who was fluent in te reo Māori. The language was simply not being passed on to the next generation, with Māori children being raised as monolingual in English?1 .

Some of the reasons for language loss was due to early missionaries imposing their new western religious beliefs upon Māori and cultural assimilation based legislation and practices by successive governments.?The Native Schools Act 1867 -1969 created Native Schools where the Māori language was banned and children were physically punished for speaking Māori. Just one of many?published stories here .

My generation were the first generation of Māori in almost 100 years of not having a Native School, but we still lived with the impacts of the damage. Some of the results of the Act were the minority who could speak Māori, spoke in secrecy, usually at the marae, denied they could speak Māori and wide spread condemnation of Māori who could speak Māori as it was socially unacceptable. Their children largely were not taught to speak Māori and there were no opportunities to learn to speak Māori anywhere.

Pre colonisation the Māori language was very different than what is commonly heard spoken today. Daily language relied on intimate local knowledge of the environment, historical events, genealogy, tikanga and mātauranga veiled in allegories, personifications,?proverbs etc.

Each primary iwi (tribe), hapū (clan) and geographic regions had?their own dialects and variations ?of the Māori language.?Primarily due to the early missionaries translating religious texts such as?Te Paipera Tapu ?(King James Bible) and?Te Pukapuka o Moromoro ?(Book of Mormon) into Māori, one dialect became standard and a number of new western beliefs were incorporated into and new words created to accommodate the new western/religious beliefs, resulting in vast amounts of original dialects and traditional knowledge being lost.

The Māori language already been colonised!

For those of us who had Māori language speaking kaumātua and maybe other generations, the language spoken was not what we would now read in a book, hear in the media or use in daily conversations. Some fluent Māori language speakers today sometimes state “oh, so and so speaks in riddles”. Academics such Royal and Michael King have written about this and like my experience, noted that it is indeed not riddles and lyrics but a deep understanding of traditional knowledge.

Considering te reo Māori was never a written language and pre colonisation Māori society relied on a complex system of karakia to deities, monitoring the sun, moon, stars and other natural phenomena that was shared intergenerationally, using a single word for a complex subject would have not been possible.

For instance, we know that each day of the Māori year had a specific name based on the moon. Seasons had multiple names and multiple divisions based on deities. There are hundreds of names for different winds and each natural activity had multiple deities associated with it. Simply saying that the weather on Monday was a storm and hail would ignore all of the associated traditional knowledge.

Pre colonisation our communities had experts in multiple areas who used a myriad of personifications and phrases that are no longer used.

The Māori language was colonised when the missionaries arrived and wanted to translate gospels into te reo Māori. Many of the Māori atua were banned and ignored meaning a significant amount of Māori language had to be modified with direct terms and the introduction of transliterations where Māori words had no equivalent in English. Duvall created a dictionary of Māori Laon words or transliteration that numbered tens of thousands.

Each primary iwi (tribe), hapū (clan) and geographic regions had?their own dialects and variations ?of the Māori language.?Primarily due to the early missionaries translating religious texts such as?Te Paipera Tapu ?(King James Bible) and?Te Pukapuka o Moromoro ?(Book of Mormon) into Māori, one dialect became standard and a number of new western beliefs were incorporated into and new words created to accommodate the new western/religious beliefs, resulting in vast amounts of original dialects and traditional knowledge being lost.

Present day status of the Māori language

The Māori language is recognised a national treasure and is protected by two constitutional documents, in particular?Te Tiriti o Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ?which is an agreement between the Crown and Māori. In 1975 legal recognition of the Treaty was made and then in the Tribunal established under the legislation, the tribunal ruled that Māori language is a treasure that is protected under the treaty. Now, the Māori language is an?official language of New Zealand , and in fact was the first official language of New Zealand.

According to?Statistics New Zealand , since 2018, the proportion of people able to speak more than a few words or phrases of te reo Māori rose from 24 percent to 30 percent and the proportion of people able to speak te reo Māori at least fairly well also increased, from 6.1 percent in 2018 to 7.9 percent in 2021.

Dialects and variations of the Māori language have seen some Iwi such as Taranaki, Ngāi Tahu, Ngā Puhi and Ngāti Hine to revive and create their own dialectal dictionaries and language resources.

Māori Language learning opportunities

In 2022,?the New Zealand government invested more than 100 million dollars ?into primary schools for Māori language, $14 million into an entity that promotes Māori language. But there continues to be a shortage of Māori language teachers in schools and out of school learning the waiting lists are sometimes years. Despite this, the demand for suitable Māori language teachers are far outweigh the supply of Māori language teachers.

New Zealand Principals’ federation national president Dr Cherie Taylor-Patel in 2022 article titled ‘Māori medium classes on hold as te reo teacher shortage hits’ stated:

“…teachers who are fluent in te reo are like hens’ teeth.” So We have a genuine supply and demand issue where the demand outweighs the supply?* . “

It is normal for NZ secondary schools to advertise for a Māori language teacher and have zero applicants. It is also normal to hear of Māori language teachers being offered lucrative contracts and management positions to attract them to positions.

There are?hundreds of Māori language courses ?available for varying levels of knowledge. These are often very hard to secure a place, with other obstacles such as costs, travel and time commitments being factors that prevent engagement. Covid19 also created a number of barriers and in this instance, I will argue has created new opportunities for Artificial Intelligence to support the Māori language.

Published paper and digital self help Māori language resources are in the hundreds with over?180 Māori language dictionaries .

Who is ChatGPT?

I asked ChatGPT who it is?

ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture, specifically GPT-3.5. Language models like ChatGPT are designed to generate human-like text based on the input they receive. They are trained on vast amounts of data from the internet, allowing them to learn patterns, grammar, and context in order to generate coherent and contextually relevant responses.

ChatGPT is primarily used for conversational purposes, enabling it to engage in back-and-forth interactions with users. It can understand and generate text in a wide range of topics, making it a versatile tool for various applications such as answering questions, providing explanations, offering suggestions, and generating creative content.

It’s important to note that while ChatGPT can generate impressive responses, it is still an AI model and may not always provide accurate or reliable information. Users should exercise caution and verify the information obtained from the model through additional sources when necessary.

I then asked ChatGPT how it learns?:

As an AI language model, my responses are generated based on the vast amount of text data that I have been trained on. During the training process, I am exposed to a wide range of sources such as books, articles, websites, and other text documents.

To learn information, I rely on patterns, correlations, and relationships within the training data. This allows me to understand the context, grammar, and common usage of words and phrases. However, it’s important to note that while I strive to provide accurate and up-to-date information, I do not have real-time access to current events or the ability to browse the internet.

It’s also worth mentioning that although I have been trained on a diverse set of data, I may not have knowledge of specific information beyond my training cutoff date in September 2021. Therefore, for the most recent or specialized information, it’s always a good idea to consult reliable and up-to-date sources.

So ChatGPT only requires digital information or data that it can process and string sentences and assumptions together with. This raises?Māori Data Sovereignty ?and Te Tiriti questions, or is there not an issue?

I asked ChatGPT what is its Māori language name. The response:

In the Māori language, “ChatGPT” can be translated as “KōreroGPT.”

“Kōrero” means “to talk” or “to speak” in Māori, and “GPT” is an abbreviation for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer,” the underlying architecture of the language model. Therefore, “KōreroGPT” combines the Māori word for “talk” with the acronym for the technology, representing a language model capable of generating conversational responses in Māori.

Legal rights of Māori Language Data

The Māori language is an official language of New Zealand so it is public property, a living and breathing resource that was once banished from our homes and communities that is now flourishing. Also, in my career I have read two legal opinions that the Māori language can not be owned for various legal reasons.

At this stage many of the ChatGPT data sources are coming from the vast amount of publicly available Māori language texts on the Internet. Sometimes it is easy to identify the source, other times it is not. These data sources have ben created by academia, individuals, media and other organisations.

It is most likely that the hundreds of hours of Māori language experts who have been recorded and archived on TV and Radio that are in the public domain such as?Waka Huia ?and?Te Karere, ?Te Ao Māori News , on YouTube, the streaming of videos on?Māori Television ?web site, or even live streaming of tangi, Māori events and?iwi radio ?could be feeding into ChatGPT and others making it a Māori language resource.

Any individual or group with a web site of Māori language and mātauranga is at risk of providing data to the ChatGPT. Many in New Zealand are not aware the the?National Library ?already takes a copy of all New Zealand web sites and archives them, arguably, so could ChatGPT.

There are many more legal and financial risks for Māori language course content owners.?Te Whanake? could be a source of data already? Anyone can scan a Māori Language self help and upload it to the Internet and add it to the already growing amount of Māori language books in?Google Books ?that are also likely feeding ChatGPT. So this creates Copyright issues that need to be dealt with from a western legal perspective.

We also have to remember that the Māori language has already been colonised, modified and bastardised from what it was pre colonisation. So in my opinion the Māori language can not be colonised by Artificial Intelligence, but only enhance it.?Māori Data Sovereignty relies on the principles of Te Tiriti , but there is no breach of Te Tiriti using te reo Māori.

Future of Māori language with AI

Māori culture has evolved over the past 25 years since the Internet and computers became more common. We have gone from only meeting in person, to phones, online video meetings, smart devices. Speaking and learning Māori has gone from in person only at special events where it was culturally safe to being normalised and using services such as Google Translate and other automated translation services.

The next logical evolution is using technologies such as ChatGPT to translate, create Māori language material, teach Māori language to address the supply issues of Māori language teachers. There are millions of dollars in government funding to be saved, better education opportunities and a plethora of opportunities to have greater numbers of Māori language speakers by controlling the data ChatGPT and other technologies use to speak and learn Māori.

There is an opportunity for the tribal variations and dialects which in many cases are lost or only heard on occasion to be digitised and tagged by iwi/hapū source, thus going someway to dialectal revival and survival.

We have to accept the fact that for the Māori language to survive it must be a living, breathing and accessible language that is useable in the modern world. We have see the impacts of hiding the language and the massive loss of speakers.

AI will be/is the new Māori language teacher of the future as it will accommodate the current supply issues of Māori language teachers and learning resources, is accessible and in some instances could analyse and produce more expert outputs than the majority of Māori language speakers.

But to ensure the Māori language is not colonised again, developers need to work with Māori language teachers and experts such as?Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori ?and individuals to ensure the data and outputs are accurate and of benefit to Māori language speakers and learners.

AI Māori language teachers will raise the knowledge and level of daily conversational spoken and written Māori in areas such as haka, whaikōrero, karanga, waiata, pepeha and other areas of the language where having whakapapa Māori and being involved with your own marae and matenga/tohunga of those specialist areas, will differentiate the hau kāinga speakers from the ChatGPT speakers. Giving all Māori speakers an opportunity to excell thier oratory skills and show the whakapapa of thier skills is from thier home and not an AI.

This does come with a new caution for the hau kāinga speakers to revert back to our old ways and not record your haikōrero, karanga. Maybe marae will revert back to a no camera or recording policy to protect the sacredness of aspects of our mātauranga with higher learnings of the Māori language.

Translation of this entire article

I asked ChatGPT to translate into the Māori language, this entire article using only the first suggestion. Please see the next Section.

He tuhinga i tuhia i te reo Māori e te ChatGPT

Kua whakapūmautia te ingoa o ChatGPT ki te whare katoa, ā, he mea whakapā mai ia i te pāpāho whanui i ia rā. Kāore i nui ngā whakawhitiwhitinga e whai ake nei mō ChatGPT me ngā whakararuraru me ngā painga mō ngā reo taketake, tae atu ki te reo Māori – te reo taketake o Aotearoa.

Kua whakamana a ChatGPT me ētahi atu Putanga Akoranga Whakaaro Tōi Ipu (AI LLM) pērā i te AI-Bing a Microsoft, te Bard a Google, me ngā atu i tino kaha i te wā poto kua hipa ki te ako i tētahi reo, whakaputa i ngā hua o te reo, ā, whakamahi hei taputapu whakaako me te whakamāori hoki. E whakapā ana tēnei tuhinga ki te whakararuraru me te whānuitanga o te reo Māori i runga i ngā taputapu AI, ā, ka whakamahia a ChatGPT hei kaupapa matua.

Ka whakapāneke anō tēnei tuhinga ki ngā mana tātai tuku iho me te whakakore i ētahi whakapōtae whakapākehā e whai ake ana ki te AI me ngā reo, me te whakamārama ka whakapiki tonu te whai rawa o te AI i te reo Māori, ki te kore ka whakapakari i te whakawhiti i te mahere whakahaere AI me te Māori.

Whakatūturu

Whakaae ana ahau ka whakatūturu ēnei tuhinga he whakatūpato i ngā kaiako me ngā kaipakihi reo Māori. He whakapiringa tēnei o ngā whakaaturanga me ngā whakawhitiwhitinga whakahaere e pā ana ki te reo Māori me te whakauru i te AI.

Kāore ahau he āpiha reo Māori. Ko aku mātauranga he āhei ki te whakamahi tikanga ōrite mō te hanga whakaaro ā-iwi ki te whakamahi i ngā hangarau whakatipu me tētahi āhuatanga kaha e whakapau kaha ana i roto i te ao Hangarau mo ngā 30 tau.

Whakapapa o te Reo Māori

I te tōnuitanga o ngā whitu tekau tau o te whakaruwhetūkia o te reo Māori i te mutunga o te tekau iwa tekau, ka whiwhi tino whakapau kaha te reo Māori i te iwi Māori. I te tau 1900, e whakapau kaha ana te reo Māori i te 95% o ngā Māori, engari i te tau 1960, e kōrero ana i te reo Māori te 25% o ngā Māori. E pā ana ki ngā tamariki: ko te whā tekau o ngā tamariki kura Māori ka whakapau kaha ki te kōrero i te reo Māori i te tau 1953, ā, ko te 5% noa iho i te tau 1975.

I waenga i te tau 1973 me te tau 1979, i ara a Dr Richard Benton i tētahi raraunga whakamātau ki ngā whānau Māori 6470 puta noa i te motu o te Ika-a-Māui e pā ana ki te whakamahi o te reo Māori. I whakatinanahia e ia he 64,000 te hunga e whakapau kaha ana ki te kōrero i te reo Māori, engari ko ēnei kaiwhakapau kaha nei ka whakapau kaha noa iho ki te kōrero i te marae me ngā whakaritenga whakapono whai mana. Ko ētahi atu 30,000 o ngā Māori ka whakamārama ki te kōrerorero i te reo Māori. He whakataki whakahirahira o te rangahau a Dr Benton, he roa tino iti te whakapau kaha o te reo Māori i te ao o ngā tamariki Māori; o ngā whare kāinga 4090 e whakamātau ana i ngā tamariki, ko te 170 noa iho o rātou he tamariki kōtiro whakapau kaha ki te kōrero i te reo Māori. Heoi, kāore i whakareri i te reo ki ngā whakatipuranga e whakamātauhia ana, ka whakatipu ake rātou hei monolingual ki te reo Ingarihi.

He maha ngā take i whakapau kaha ai te whakararuwhetū i te reo, arā, ngā minita i whakarērea i ō rātou whakapono whakapono i whakararuraru ki te Māori me ngā whakahaere me ngā tikanga whakararuraru i whakatupuria e ngā kāwanatanga i muri i a rātou. Ko te Ture Kura Tāngata Whenua 1867-1969 i whakakore i te reo Māori i ngā Kura Tāngata Whenua, ā, ka whakararuraru i te whakapau kaha o te reo Māori, ka whakatikina hoki ngā tamariki mō te kōrero i te reo Māori. He tino ngoikore anō tēnei o ngā whakaputanga i runga i te Ture, ko te wāhanga iti e whakapau kaha ana ki te kōrero i te reo Māori, ka kōrerotia i runga i te mātauranga whare, ka whakaputa whakapōtaea i te hunga ka kōrerotia te reo Māori, he mea kore tēnei i whakaae ake e te hāpori. I te tino whakamārama i te reo Māori e kōrero ana, ka whakakorehia tō rātou wharekura, ka whakakorengia hoki ngā whakaritenga whakapākehā e whakakaha ana i te kōrero i te reo Māori, ka whakakore hoki ngā whakapau kaha ki te kōrero i te reo Māori ki ētahi wāhi.

I mua i te whakararuwhetū o te ao, he rerekē te āhua o te reo Māori i te reo e whakaritea ana ināianei. He whakapau kaha i te reo o ia rā, e whakapau kaha ana ki te mātauranga ā-iwi, ki ngā momo āhuatanga tuku iho, ki te whakapapa, ki ngā tikanga me te mātauranga whai mana whakararuraru i whakapūmau i runga i ngā whakaritenga, ngā whakapākehā, ngā whakataukī hoki.

I katoa iwi matua, hapū me ngā rohe ahurea, ko ō rātou reo Māori, ā, ko ngā rerekētanga o te reo Māori. I tua atu i te whakararuraru a ngā minita i te whakawhakamāoritanga o ngā kōrero whakapono pū, arā, Te Paipera Tapu (King James Bible) me Te Pukapuka o Moromona (Book of Mormon) ki te reo Māori, ka whiwhi te reo kotahi hei reo kōrero whakahaere, ā, ka whakapau kaha te whakaurunga i ngā whakapono whakapono hōu me ngā kupu hōu e whakaritea ana ki ngā whakapono whakapono hōu, ā, ka whakakore i ētahi whānui o ngā reo taketake me ngā mātauranga tuku iho.

Kua whakararu te reo Māori i mua i te tōrangapū!

Mō ētahi o tātou i whakarongo ki ngā kaumātua e kōrero ana i te reo Māori, me ērā atu whakatupuranga, kāore te reo e whakarongo i tēnei wā i te kōrero e kitea ana i roto i tētahi pukapuka, i te whakarongo i te whakaata, i te whakamahi i roto i ngā kōrero ā-tinana. Hei tā ētahi kaikōrero reo Māori mātāmua i tēnei rā, he whakapuakitanga "ō, e kōrero ana a Te Taurangi ki ngā whakataukī". Kua tuhi ētahi ākonga tātai kōrero rātou ko a Royal rātou ko a Michael King mō tēnei me āku whakaaro, ka whakamāhia te mōhio ki te āta whakararuraru o te mātauranga taketake.

Mō te whakaaro, kāore i pānuihia i te wāhi o te reo Māori, ā, i mua i te whakararu, whakamahia ana e te iwi Māori he rārangi whakapākehā ki a ngā atua, ki te tātari i te rā, te marama, ngā whetū, me ērā atu kaupapa ā-tūroa i whakawhāitiwhāiti ai i ngā whakapapa, ā, kāore i taea te whakamahi he kupu kotahi mō tētahi kaupapa whaihua nui.

Hei tauira, mātou e mōhio ana kua whakararuraru te ingoa o ia rā o te tau Māori ki runga i te marama. He nuinga ngā ingoa mō ngā wā o te tau, ā, he maha ngā whakararuraru, ngā whakararuraru anō hoki e whai ake ana i ngā atua. E whakarite ana rātou i te rerekētanga maha o ngā hau, ā, he maha ngā atua e whakawhāiti ana ki ia whakahaere ā-tūroa. Ki te kītahi noa iho, ki te kītahi i te rāhui o Tūrei i te rangi ko te ua, te hauhōū anō hoki i whakakore i te mōhio whānuitia ki te mātauranga taketake e whakawhāiti ana.

I mua i te whakararu, he nuinga o ō tātou hapori he ākonga ki te ao maha, ki ētahi whāinga maha kāore i whakamahi ake i tēnei wā.

I whakararu te reo Māori i te whakapiri a ngā mihi i te tauparapara ki te reo Māori. I whakakorehia, i whakaukaha hoki ētahi o ngā atua Māori, ā, kāore i whakamahi i te maha o te reo Māori, me te whakauru anō i ngā kupu whakawhiti i ētahi wāhi kāore he kupu Māori whakaae ki te reo Pākehā. I whakatūria e Duvall he papakupu o ngā kupu Māori rānei, ētahi whakauru whakawhiti i whakaraupapa tini mano.

Ia iwi matua, i te hapū matua, i ngā rohe ahumahi, he ōrite ā rātou tikanga ā-tūroa, he ōrite ā rātou whakararuraru. Ki te mea i te whakararuraru o ētahi o ngā minita mua i te whakapiri i ngā tuhinga whakapono pūtea rātou, pērā i Te Paipera Tapu, i te Pukapuka a Moromona ki te reo Māori, kua whakapā-ohu he reo kotahi, ā, kua whakatūria he maha ngā whakapono hōu whakapā-ohu i roto i te reo Māori, i whakaritea hoki he maha ngā kupu hōu hei whakatū i ēnei whakapono whāwhā, ā, i whakapau kaha ai te ngāwari o ngā āhua matua me ngā mātauranga taketake i ngaro.

Whakatikatika o te reo Māori i tēnei wā

Ko te reo Māori he taonga tuku iho whakaaetia ana, ā, e whakahaerehia ana e ngā tuhinga ture e rua, inā whakapau kaha ana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tētahi whakaritenga i waenga i te Karauna me ngā Māori. I te tau 1975 ka whakaaetia te whakapau kaha ture o Te Tiriti, ā, i muri iho i te whakatūtanga o te Tumuaki Whakapāoho e whakapau kaha ana i raro i te whakawhitinga ture, ka whakatūturu te ture i te whakaruruhau o te reo Māori i raro i te whakawhitinga ture. Ināianei, he reo whakahaere o Aotearoa te reo Māori, ā, i te tino tūturu, ko te reo whakahaere tuatahi o Aotearoa.

Hararei i ngā Tatauranga o Aotearoa, mai i te tau 2018, ka whakapiki te nuinga o te iwi e āhei ana ki te kōrero i ngā kupu, ngā rerenga whakararuraru a te reo Māori mai i te 24 ōrau ki te 30 ōrau, ā, ka whakapiki hoki te nuinga o te iwi e āhei ana ki te kōrero i te reo Māori ki te pai i te iti rawa, mai i te 6.1 ōrau i te tau 2018 ki te 7.9 ōrau i te tau 2021.

Kua kitea i ētahi Iwi reo Māori kētanga i whakaora, i whakapakari hoki i ā rātou raraunga me ā rātou rauemi reo, arā, Taranaki, Ngāi Tahu, Ngā Puhi me Ngāti Hine.

Ngā whakararuraru ako i te reo Māori

I te tau 2022, ka whakawhiwhia e te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa he rau miriona tāra i ngā kura tuatahi mō te reo Māori, he $14 miriona hoki ki tētahi rōpū e whakapakari ana i te reo Māori. Ahakoa tēnei, kei te whakakoretia tonu ngā kaiako reo Māori i ngā kura, ā, kei ngā wāhanga ako wharekura ka whakapau kaha te whakararuraru, ā, ka whakakorengia aua wāhanga ako mō ētahi tau. Ahakoa tēnei, ka whakapau kaha te hiahia mō ngā kaiako reo Māori whai hua ki te whakararuraru reo Māori.

I te pānui a te tumuaki ā-tau o te Kāhui Whakahaere Kura o Aotearoa, a te Tohtara Cherie Taylor-Patel, i te tau 2022, e whakatitiro ana ki te whakararuraru o ngā akoranga reo Māori i te reo ake, ki te whakapau kaha i te tino whakapau kaha o te hunga e āhei ana ki te kōrero i te reo Māori:

“… he taonga tino raruraru ngā kaiako e mārama ana ki te reo Māori.” He whakararuraru i te whakapau kaha me te whakapau kaha hiahia tōtika tēnei, he ū ki te whakapau kaha i te whakapau kaha *.”

He whakapau kaha ki te whakapā i kaiako reo Māori mō ngā kura wharekura o Aotearoa ā, ā, kāore he tono. He mea whānuitia ki te whakarongo hoki ki ngā kaiako reo Māori e whiwhi ana i ngā whakaritenga mahi whakapai, tūranga whakahaere hoki hei whakapūmau i a rātou ki ngā tūranga.

Kei te whai rau kupu o ngā mahinga reo Māori mō ngā taumata reo Māori e rerekē ana. He uaua noa iho te whiwhi wāhi ki ēnei, ā, he ētahi āwangawanga e pā ana ki ngā utu, te haere, me ngā whakaaetanga wā i whakakore i te whakawhiti whakaaro. Ko te Covid19 hoki i whakararuraru i ētahi tūāpapa, ā, ki tēnei wāhanga, ka whakapau kaha i ngā huarahi hōtaka āwhina Tūmatanui ki te tautoko i te reo Māori.

Kei te whānuitia ngā pūrākau me ngā rauemi āwhina reo Māori e raukaha ana, he rau o ngā papatohu reo Māori.

Ko wai ko ChatGPT?

I whakapau kōrero atu au ki a ChatGPT, ko wai ia?

He tauira reo ahurea a ChatGPT i whakawhanaketia e OpenAI. Kei runga ia i te hangarau o te āhua GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), i te whakararuraru whakararuraru 3.5. E whakamahia ana ngā tauira reo pēnei i a ChatGPT ki te whakaputa i te tuhinga e āhei ai rātou ki te whakaputa i te tuhinga e āhua tangata. Ka whakapakari rātou i runga i ngā raraunga nui rawa i te ipurangi, e whakatōmuri ana i a rātou ki ngā whakararuraru, ki ngā ngākau nōhanga, ki te tikanga kōrero i runga i ngā whakapākehā hoki, ki te whakaputu i ngā whakautu e whai whakaaro ana ki te wāhi tuku i ā rātou.

Ko te whakamahia matua o ChatGPT he whakapuaki whakawhiti kōrero, e āwhina ana ia ki te whakarongo whakamuri me te whakarongo whakamuri ki ngā kaiwhakamahi. Ka mārama ia i te tuhi me te whakaputa tuhinga i roto i ngā kaupapa whaiaro whānui, he mea whakararuraru ia i te kōrero, i te whakararuraru i ngā kaupapa whakautu, i te tātari, i te whakaputu whakaaro, i te whakaputa hōtaka whakararuraru.

Me whakamahara, ahakoa ka whakapaukaha ana ngā whakautu a ChatGPT, he tauira ake i te hangarau a, kaore i āwhina i te tino tika, te whakapaukaha o ngā mōhiohio. Me whakamahi te hunga kaiwhakamahi i te mōhiohio whaiaro ake ake, me te whiria anō i te mōhiohio i whiwhi ai i te tauira i ngā momo, inā whakararuraru ana, ki te whakapātai i ētahi atu rauemi whaiwhaiwhai mō te whakapaukaha o ngā mōhiohio.

I ēnei wānanga ka whakapaukaha te kōwhiringa whaiaro. Ka whakapātai ahau ki a ChatGPT, he aha te ingoa Māori o ia? Ko te whakautu:

I te reo Māori, ka whakapātai “ChatGPT” ki te whakawhiti i “KōreroGPT”.

“Kōrero” te kupu e whakaatu ana i te “kōrero” i te reo Māori, ā, he whakaneke a “GPT” i te tukanga whakaiti i te “Generative Pre-trained Transformer”, te āhua tūturu o te tauira reo. Koia tēnei, ka whakauru a “KōreroGPT” i te kupu Māori mō te “kōrero” me te whakatauira mō te hangarau, e whakarato ana i tētahi tauira reo e āhei ana ki te whakaputa i ngā whakautu whakawhiti kōrero i te reo Māori.

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He whai whare e whakaae ana i ngā tika ture o ngā raraunga reo Māori

Ko te reo Māori he reo ture o Aotearoa, nā reira he taonga tūmatanui, he rauemi whakarauora e noho ana i te ao tūroa, i whakakorengia i ngā whare me ngā hapori i mua, heoi anō i whakatipu i tēnei wā. Ka whāia tonutia hoki e ētahi whakaaro ture e rua kahore e taea te whai atu i te rārangi tikanga mō ētahi take ture.

I tēnei wā, e whiwhi ana te ChatGPT i ētahi wāhi raraunga nō ngā rauemi reo Māori whānui e whai wātea ana i te Ipurangi. I ētahi wā he āhua āta titiro i te kōpae, ētahi wā kaore. I hangaia ēnei raraunga e ngā whare wānanga, ngā tāngata, ngā pāpāho me ētahi atu whakahaere.

Ka whakarite kaha te whakapau kaha a te rau o ngā haora reo Māori i hōhāhāhātia me te wharepūkenga i te pou tautohetohe o te whakapau kaha reo Māori. Ka whai hua ki a ChatGPT me ētahi atu, ka whakaritehia hei rauemi reo Māori.

He tino whara ki te hunga e whai paetukutuku reo Māori me te mātauranga reo Māori. E tino kore e mōhio ana te nuinga o Aotearoa e whiwhi ana te Whare Pukapuka ā-Motu i tētahi tānga o ngā paetukutuku o Aotearoa katoa, ka whakapārekareka kē ai rātou ki a ChatGPT.

He nui atu anō ngā whakararuraru ture me ngā whakararuraru pūtea mō ngā kairarau o ngā akoranga reo Māori. Ka whiwhi i te Whanake hei rauemi raraunga i tēnei wā? Ka whakamāhi ai te tangata whai kiko i tētahi āwhina Reo Māori, ka tākaro ki te Ipurangi, ka whakaputa ki ngā pukapuka Reo Māori i Google Books, ka whakapau kaha anō i a ChatGPT. Koia tēnei e whakararuraru ana i ngā tikanga tānga-aute e whai ake ana i te tirohanga ture o te ao whānui.

Me mahara hoki tātou ki te whakararu i te whakaapa, te whakatikatika i te reo Māori i whakatipu, i whakarereketia, i whakatinoatia hoki e te whakararuraru. Hei taku whakaaro, kāore e taea e te Pūmanawa Pūwhiri te whakararu, engari e whakapakari anō. E takatu ana te Mana ā-Iwi Māori ki runga i ngā tikanga o Te Tiriti, engari kāore he whakareinga o Te Tiriti ki te whakamahi i te reo Māori.

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Whakamuri i te reo Māori ki te ao hōtaka (AI)

Kua whanaketia te ahurea Māori i ngā 25 tau kua hipa mai i te whakapakari ake o te Ipurangi me ngā rorohiko. Kāore tātou i te whakawhiti kōrero anake i te kanohi ki te kanohi, engari i te whakamahi i ngā waea, i ngā hui whakaaturanga ataata ā-ipurangi, i ngā rorohiko whakahoahoa. Kua whakawhiti te kōrero me te ako i te reo Māori mai i te whakawhiti kōrero anake i ngā kaupapa tino whakahirahira ki te whakamahi i ngā ratonga pānuihia, pānuiā, me ētahi atu ratonga whakawhiti kōrero ā-ipurangi.

Ko te whakapau kaha whakamua, ko te whakamahi i ngā hangarau pēnei i te ChatGPT ki te whakawhiti, ki te hanga matatika i ngā rauemi reo Māori, ki te whakahoahoa i te reo Māori hei whakatika i ngā raru o ngā kaiako reo Māori. E whai ana ngā miriona tāra o ngā pūtea a te kāwanatanga kia whakapuaki, whakapakari ake ngā whaiwhakaaro mātauranga, me te whānui i te tauira o ngā kaiwhakapuaki reo Māori mā te whakahaere i ngā raraunga e whakamahi ana te ChatGPT me ētahi atu hangarau ki te kōrero me te ako i te reo Māori.

Kei reira te whakararuraru, me te whakapakari anō i ngā rauemi reo Māori hei ārahi i te whakapau kaha o ngā kaiako reo Māori. Me whakapau kaha i te tātari i te āhua o te raraunga me ngā huanga i roto i te whakahaere tika, i roto i te mahi ngātahi me ngā kaiako reo Māori, te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me ētahi atu tohunga reo Māori, kia whakaritea ai te raraunga me ngā hua whai hua mō ngā kaiwhakapuaki me ngā ākonga reo Māori.

Ka whakakore a AI, hei kaiako reo Māori ā-mua ā-kei te wā e whai ana, i ngā raru o ngā kaiako reo Māori me ngā rauemi ako, he āwhina tēnei me te whiwhi hōhonu, me te whakaputa i ngā hua arotake whakapakari i te nuinga o ngā kaiwhakapuaki reo Māori.

Engari, hei whakamana i te ora o te reo Māori, me mahitahi ngā kaihanga raraunga me ngā kaiako reo Māori, pēnei i te Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me ngā hunga takatuwha o te reo Māori, ki te whakarite i ngā raraunga me ngā hua whai hua e tika ana, e whai hua ana mō ngā kaiwhakapuaki me ngā ākonga reo Māori.

Ka whakapau kaha ai ngā kaiako reo Māori a AI ki te whakapakari i te mātauranga reo Māori whakakōrero, whakarāpopototanga i ngā wā e kōrero ai i ngā mahi pūkana, whaikōrero, karanga, waiata, pepeha me ētahi atu wāhanga o te reo, i te whakarite i te whakapapa Māori me te whakapā ngātahi ki tō marae, ki ngā matenga/tohunga o ēnei āhuatanga toa, ka whakapaipai i ngā kaiwhakapuaki katoa o te reo Māori ki te whakapakari i ā rātou whakahaere i ā rātou whakapapa ki te reo Māori. Mā te whakawhānui i te whakapapa o ngā kaiwhakapuaki reo Māori, ka whakarārangi i te mōhio me te whakaatu i te whakapapa o ā rātou pūkenga mai i ā rātou kāinga, ā, kāore he āwhina a AI i tēnei āhuatanga.

He whakararuraru hōu tēnei mā ngā kaiwhakapuaki o te reo Māori ki te hoki ki ō tātou tikanga tawhito, kaua e whakarēhā i ō haikōrero, i ō karanga. Ka whakarēhā te marae ki te whakapuaki karere, ki te whakapuaki whakahaere, kia tiakina ai te tapu o ētahi wāhanga o te mātauranga tuku iho e whakatūturu ana i te reo Māori.

Ka whakatīmata te kaha mahi tuatahi o te kaituhi ki te whakawhanaungatanga reo Māori i te tau 1997, ka whakamahi i ngā hangarau matihiko hei tohu i te whakarauora i te reo Māori me ngā reo ā-rohe – ā, ko te whakatutuki whakahirahira i te tino whakarauora reo Māori, puta noa i ētahi o ngā whakaaetanga pūmanawa me ngā hangarau i whakaritea hei whakarauora i te reo Māori.

I te mutunga o ngā tau 1990, i roa te whakapaukaha a te whakakēkē me ngā kōrero kore whakamārama mō te hangarau me tōna whakamahi ki te whakawhanaungatanga reo Māori. Kei te kite, kei te whakarongo hoki te kaituhi ki ngā whakawhitiwhitinga i runga i te whakaaro whakatauākī e whai ake nei mō te AI me te reo Māori. E whai hoki ētahi whakapuakitanga whakatauākī, pērā i tāku hoa nui i ngā tau tōku whakatīmatanga i te aroha, a Te Taka Keegan, e whakapuare ana i āna whakaaro i konei.