It is well documented that Australian teachers face the challenge of integrating Indigenous perspectives and content into their teaching. The approach can sometimes be somewhat symbolic, as if the teacher is “ticking a box.” We need more culturally responsive teachers.
Generative AI is progressing rapidly and is quickly finding a spot in education. Tools corresponding to ChatGPT (or Chatty G as the children say) go ahead dominate conversations in education when these technologies are researched and developed.
There are many concerns about academic integrity and things to think about about how best to do that introduce And control this technology in practice.
As teachers proceed to look for tactics to satisfy Indigenous Content Requirements, it is smart that they might turn to generative AI to assist in an area they’re combating. But using these tools could do more harm than good.
Indigenous Peoples' Concerns About AI
Indigenous peoples have raised various concerns about generative AI. These include the risks these technologies pose to indigenous populations and their knowledge.
For example, AI generated art poses a big threat to the income, arts and cultural knowledge of indigenous peoples.
The primary image of this text was created using the generative AI platform In the center of the journey. Prompts included the terms Indigenous, Art, Coloured, Artificial Intelligence, Aboriginal, Western Sydney and Painting Styles.
This shows that with AI it is definitely possible for everybody produce art within the “indigenous style”. and content. This poses a threat Indigenous cultural and mental property rights.
Since AI is trained on huge data sets, drawn primarily from the Western body of information, there are also concerns regarding Indigenous data sovereignty – the proper to “regulate the gathering, ownership and use of information about Indigenous communities, peoples, lands and resources.”
Generative AI may perpetuate misinformation that harms indigenous communities. This happened throughout the Voice referendum campaign, when fake, AI-generated images of indigenous “no” voters were posted on social media.
Importantly, there may be also a possible impact on the country as a result of the environmental costs of information centers – a difficulty that may have to be addressed as more generative AI tools come online.
How do these concerns translate into teaching?
All students should see themselves reflected within the classroom. This is especially true for Indigenous students, as witnessed by Goals to shut the gap for educational success.
A report for 2022 from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership says:
The legacy of colonization has affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students' access to their cultures, identities, histories and languages. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students didn’t have access to a whole, relevant and needs-based education.
Children need each “windows and mirrors” within the classroom. American educational scientist Rudine Sims-Bishop has aptly brought this into the context of kids's literature:
When children cannot see themselves within the books they read, or when the photographs they see are distorted, negative, or ridiculous, they learn a robust lesson about how they’re devalued within the society they belong to.
Students have to see themselves reflected within the curriculum, including the technologies used.
By using generative AI, teachers risk perpetrating and inspiring inaccuracies and spreading false information slightly than meaningfully engaging with indigenous values and knowledge systems.
This can potentially affect the connection between student and teacher. This is incredibly necessaryparticularly for Indigenous students.
Late last yr, the Australian government released one Generative AI framework in schools. It provides “guidance on understanding, using and responding to generative AI” for everybody involved in Australian education.
The framework also reiterates the necessity to respect indigenous cultural and mental property rights. However, we’d like greater motion to make sure teachers can do that appropriately. There is currently a scarcity of research addressing the intersection between generative AI and the inclusion of Indigenous content within the classroom.
Indigenous futures and AI
Generative AI and other types of AI have great potential to assist indigenous peoples and their communities. Many indigenous peoples are working on the relevant technologies.
You can take one for instance virtual trip to the Torres Strait Islandsspend time at the AI Marae in New Zealand or get entangled with the Indigenous Protocols and AI Laboratory
But to make room for a seemingly inevitable future involving AI, work must be done in policy and skilled bodies to make sure Indigenous inclusion in any respect levels, from development to make use of.
Teachers and students have to be supported with the needed resources to advertise critical considering when engaging with generative AI. Teachers will contact the relevant government authorities, while students will turn to their teachers for advice.
It is obvious that we’d like further guidance on Indigenous cultural and mental property rights, in addition to culturally appropriate use of AI for educators.
Generative AI still has rather a lot to learn, as does indigenous knowledge rather a lot to show.
