Googlers visit Fort Peck Tribes to discuss socially beneficial technology

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The Fort Peck Tribes invited a small crew of Googlers to go to Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, for 2 days of bidirectional studying and relationship constructing. By studying extra concerning the Tribes’ key values (like respect, spirituality, and inclusiveness) the Google crew — whose experience is within the accountable improvement of synthetic intelligence (AI) and generative AI methods — started studying the best way to outline social profit extra inclusively and take into consideration how these learnings might create a greater basis for Google merchandise and analysis. The Google crew welcomed this chance to help the corporate’s AI Ideas, together with AI Principle #1, “Be socially beneficial” and AI Applications We Will Not Pursue.

Fort Peck Tribes, together with the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, are U.S. federally-recognized Tribes, that are self-governing and sovereign entities. The Tribes’ Reservation spans 110 by 50 miles, and varies broadly, from flood plains alongside the Missouri River to high-elevation prairies. Summer season temperatures are within the triple digits and winter temperatures are sometimes properly beneath freezing. The Reservation’s resident inhabitants of Tribal members and non-Indians is broadly dispersed on probably the most rural Reservation within the “decrease 48” (the U.S. States excluding Alaska and Hawaii).

The connection constructing — led on the Google aspect by Diane Korngiebel, Moral, Authorized & Social Implications Scholar, and on the Tribes’ aspect by Kenny Smoker, Director, Well being Promotion Illness Prevention Program — occurred remotely over the previous 12 months, however with this primary in-person go to, the Google crew and the Tribes hoped to not solely develop the connection additional, but additionally facilitate a reciprocal studying expertise.

By this go to, the Google crew began studying the best way to higher help Fort Peck Tribes’ distinctive identities, cultures, and sovereignty — from serving to preserve their languages, addressing disparities and biases in representations, being conscious of knowledge misuse, to striving for services and products which are culturally related. The Google crew is exploring varied potential collaborative tasks with Fort Peck Tribes, together with creating a Siouan AI language mannequin collectively. Because the Google crew and Fort Peck Tribes proceed to construct this relationship, they’re each hopeful that the Google AI Ecosystem will proceed to use these learnings to construct merchandise which are extra helpful and useful for everybody.

Actions all through the two-day go to have been packed, as Tribal management, Elders, Youth, Fort Peck Well being Promotion Illness Prevention directors, and Googlers discovered about one another personally and professionally, by way of shared dialog and meals, together with conventional meals (the buffalo stew was a crew favourite). The Google crew was additionally deeply honored to take part within the magnificent Pow Wow dancing. (Googlers’ dancing was fairly a bit much less magnificent, however everybody tried!) As well as, Googlers crafted drugs pouches, working with leather-based, artificial sinew, and beads, whereas studying about how such pouches have been used. The crew additionally discovered about how the Tribes hunt on their lands, together with buffalo, that are sacred and particularly significant to the Tribes. When looking, all elements of the animal are used, as acts of each thankfulness and respect. Every meal started with an Elder providing a prayer within the Lakota, Dakota, or Nakoda languages adopted by a translation for non-speakers and company. All occasions, together with the get-together, additionally start with prayers.

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