How AI Can Be Used To Preserve Endangered Indigenous Cultures
I asked ChatGPT, "Can you give me a list of ways to use machine learning to preserve Igbo culture?" and here is what it said:
Here are a few potential ways that machine learning could be used to preserve Igbo culture:
1. Developing a machine learning model to automatically transcribe and translate Igbo oral traditions, such as folktales, legends, and historical narratives. This could help to preserve and document these important cultural expressions, and make them more widely accessible to people who do not speak Igbo.
2. Using machine learning to analyze and classify Igbo cultural artifacts, such as art, music, and artifacts, in order to create a comprehensive digital catalog of Igbo cultural heritage. This could help to identify and protect important cultural objects, and make them available for study and research.
3. Training machine learning models to recognize and classify different styles and traditions within Igbo music, art, and literature, in order to better understand and document the diversity and richness of Igbo culture. This could help to preserve and promote traditional Igbo artistic practices, and support the continued evolution of Igbo culture.
4. Developing machine learning-based tools to assist with the preservation and conservation of Igbo languages, including tools for language documentation, translation, and language revitalization. This could help to support the continued use and transmission of Igbo languages, and help to prevent them from becoming endangered.
5. Using machine learning to automatically generate new content in Igbo, such as poetry, stories, and songs, based on existing examples of Igbo language and culture. This could help to support the creation and expression of new ideas and perspectives within Igbo culture, and help to keep the culture vibrant and dynamic.
What do you think of this list that ChatGPT generated? Do you think it is worth pursuing for the Igbo culture, or other indigenous cultures? I think so. However, the problem is that machine learning is an expensive undertaking, and right now most of the funding is going to projects done by certain already privileged communities. How do you think we can solve the digital divide problem? Let me know in the comments?
