The indigenous and AI
This year, the theme of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, commemorated every Aug 9 – 'Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures' – may sound futuristic, but for us at Apa Kata Wanita Orang Asli (AKWOA), it is something very close to the medium of our struggle.
Since the beginning of our establishment, access to information technology (IT) has been a catalyst for AKWOA's development.
A group of Orang Asli women participating in a video content creation workshop in Kampung Petoh, Pahang. The writer says the positive use of technology has brought women from the community together. AKWOA
Firstly, technology connects Orang Asli women's communities from various states, even though separated by forests, rivers, and mountains.
Secondly, it documents stories, culture and traditional knowledge through photos, videos and social media.
And thirdly, it elevates our voices to the national and international levels and allows us to participate in discussions about human rights, the environment, and the future of our communities.
Now a new wave of technology, artificial intelligence (AI), has opened up greater opportunities and challenges.
AI can help us translate our mother tongue, map ancestral lands, or archive ancestral knowledge in safer and more accessible ways.
However, it also risks becoming a tool that marginalises us if developed without understanding or respecting indigenous rights.
For us, defending rights in the age of AI means:
> Ensuring that our community's data is controlled by us (data sovereignty).
> Ensuring AI does not take or imitate traditional knowledge without permission, prior notice, freedom, and transparency (free, prior and informed consent).
> Developing AI applications that are friendly to the language, culture, and life context of indigenous peoples.
Shaping the future means we are not just passive users, but also partners in decision-making in technology development.
Making it theirs: The writer (far right) says Orang Asli are not just passive users of technology, but also partners in decision-making in technology development, especially AI. — RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star(Below) A group of Orang Asli women participating in a video content creation workshop in Kampung Petoh, Pahang. The writer says the positive use of technology has brought women from the community together. — AKWOA
We want to see AI that strengthens the relationship between humans and nature, not destroys it; AI that adds value to humanity, not replaces it.
For AKWOA, true progress is not only measured by machine intelligence, but by the wisdom of the human heart.
From the forests we protect to the digital world we navigate, we will continue to defend our rights and shape the future we dream of together.
Happy International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples 2025!
Eliana a/p Tan Beng Hui is a founding member of Apa Kata Wanita Orang Asli (AKWOA), a collective of young Orang Asli women using social films to advocate change and raise awareness among indigenous communities about their rights.
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