Critical Thinking and AI: An Indigenous Perspective
Critical thinking isn’t just a research skill
Critical thinking isn’t just a research skill
As artificial intelligence shapes our world, Indigenous peoples face unique risks and opportunities. Mainstream AI claims to serve everyone, but too often it amplifies bias, erases context, and assumes the Western worldview is “universal.”
For Māori and other Indigenous groups, critical thinking is essential not just to use AI tools, but to challenge who builds them, whose values are embedded, and what knowledge they respect.
Why Critical Thinking Matters in AI
Especially for Indigenous Peoples
AI Mirrors Power Structures: Without deep questioning, AI systems can reinforce colonial patterns, extracting language, reshaping stories, and perpetuating misinformation while silencing Indigenous voices.
Data ≠ Truth: Not all data sets are created equal. Indigenous wisdom warns against mistaking information for understanding, especially when AI lacks context, cultural protocols, or whakapapa (genealogy).
Real World Impacts: Misinformation, stereotyping, and appropriation have direct consequences for language revitalisation, cultural continuity, and the safe transmission of Indigenous knowledge
What Indigenous Critical Thinking Looks Like
Ask whose knowledge is being represented: Are Māori voices, protocols, and histories genuinely shaping this technology, or are they just being used as data?
Question how decisions are made: Who benefits? Who is harmed or excluded?
Demand transparency and participation: As many Indigenous thinkers urge, “Nothing about us, without us.” Meaningful inclusion means co-design, not token consultation.
Apply traditional values: Values such as manaakitanga (care), kaitiakitanga (guardianship), and collective benefit must guide the critical evaluation of AI beyond technical solutions.
Teaching Critical Thinking With AI
Indigenous Ways Forward
Empower communities: to question and teach AI, not just use it passively.
Challenge ‘obvious’ assumptions: If AI echoes the dominant narrative, whose truths are being erased?
Integrate cultural protocols and worldviews: Digital learning should be supported by tikanga (correct practice) and community validation.
Leadership by rangatahi and elders: Encouraging Māori and Indigenous youth to become active creators, not just consumers, will shape AI for collective empowerment.
Critical Thinking Is Survival in the AI Age
Without it, AI risks reinforcing old power structures, reshaping stories, erasing Indigenous voices, and overlooking cultural knowledge.
By asking courageous questions about who builds AI, whose values guide it, and who benefits, we can ensure these tools strengthen connections rather than erode them.