Indigenous Protocols for Artificial Intelligence (IP//AI)​ Workshop #3

On 27 June at QUT Kelvin Grove, as part of ISEA2024 Everywhen, this participatory workshop delved into the historical development of AI and its contemporary applications.

Devised and led by Professor Angie Abdilla Old Ways, New in collaboration with Dr Gabriela Ferraro and Dr Safiya Okai-Ugbaje from ANU School of Cybernetics in partnership with ANAT, the session explored data, algorithms, and the methodologies of Machine Learning (ML). Participants engaged in two-way learning to examine Indigenous automated systems alongside current ML practices, aiming to innovate engineering possibilities rooted in cultural practices and care for Country and kin.

Participants contributed to this conceptually technical and culturally focused explorative learning, centred on caring for Country and kin within artificially intelligent (AI) systems.

IP//AI Workshop, Back row, L-R: Corey Ruha, Desna Whaanga-Schollum, Melissa DeLaney, Mike Hill, Rosie Baum, Tianee Stanley, Sherice Kazzi, Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker, Carollyn Kavanagh. Front row, L-R: Sasha Sarago, Chantel Bates, r e a , Karlie Noon, Gabriela Ferraro, Angie Abdilla, Jenn Brazier, Aushaf Widisto. Photograph Joe Ruckli.

ANAT was excited to share post event storytelling around this significant and timely workshop and commissioned an article by Nyungar technologist and writer Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker, titled Reflection: ISEA2024, Everywhen, Indigenous Protocols for Artificial Intelligence (IP//AI) Workshop #3

Reflections by Kathryn Gledhil-Tucker

Angie Abdilla, Meditation on Country, 2024.

Workshop presenters/authors:
The IP//AI was co-founded in 2018 by Prof Angie Abdilla, Director of Old Ways, New. This year, IP//AI is in partnership with the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT); Abdilla co-designed the workshop with Dr Gabriela Ferraro and Dr Safiya Okai-Ugbaje from the ANU School of Cybernetics. Abdilla and Ferraro co-facilitated the two-way learning for a group of Indigenous creatives, researchers, and technologists.

Background
ANAT in partnership with ANU School of Cybernetics is honoured to support Old Ways, New in amplifying the work of artists and researchers in the development of Out of the Black Box: Indigenous Protocols for AI, published in 2021. This groundbreaking paper shared the journey starting with an international group of Indigenous technologists at the inaugural workshop series in Hawaii in 2019, leading to the IP//AI Incubator supported by ANAT in 2021.

The partnership continued in Meanjin, during ISEA2024 Everywhen, with a third workshop based on the cumulative body of research and engagement over the past seven years.

The project partners gratefully acknowledge the support of QUT.

From left Professor Angie Abdilla, Dr Safiya Okai-Ugbaj, Dr Gabriela Ferraro.

Professor Angie Abdilla palawa, is the founder and director of Old Ways, New. In her various roles as a strategic designer, creative practitioner, and consultant, Angie advocates for Indigenous peoples, knowledges, and knowledge systems as foundational to technology automation through design and cultural practice. Her published research interrogates the praxis of Indigenous deeptime technologies and Artificial Intelligence, which continue to be informed by the Indigenous Protocols and AI working group (IP//AI), which she co-founded. As a creative practitioner, she works across film and video installation as an exhibiting artist. She created the company’s strategic design methodology, Country Centered Design, leading projects for the public and private sectors over the past decade. Angie continues to advise on the cultural and ethical affordances of automated systems and technologies internationally and locally.

Dr Safiya Okai-Ugbaje is an information systems researcher and lecturer at the School of Cybernetics, teaching and facilitating the Building Cyber-Physical Systems course. As an information systems researcher, her interest lies in bridging the digital divide in the access and use of technology, where she is mostly interested in theory building and aligning theory with practice in ways that provide practical and sustainable solutions to contextual problems. Safiya holds a Bachelor of Technology in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Master of Science in IT Management with Distinction. During her PhD, Safiya worked with various stakeholder groups, including senior management and academics to facilitate the delivery of innovative and suitable educational solutions in higher education. The project succeeded in demonstrating how local opportunities may be effectively utilised to facilitate technology-enhanced learning and teaching even where resources are limited. Safiya has over six years of teaching experience in higher education.

Dr Gabriela Ferraro is a Research Fellow at the School of Cybernetics and a researcher in the field Natural Language Processing and Computational Linguistics. At the School of Cybernetics, Gabriela is a member of the teaching team, course convenor and facilitator. She holds a PhD in computer science and a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics. As a recognition for her career, she was distinguished with the Woman in Science Career Award from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. In the last 20 years, Gabriela has worked in research centres and universities and participated in projects related to language technologies and machine learning for text processing. She has more than 10 years of teaching experience in higher education programs in the area of Human Language Technology. Gabriela has collaborated in multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams throughout her career, generating impactful technology solutions for various societal challenges.