A message from the Co-Chairs on behalf of ILC’s Indigenous Peoples Global Platform
This World Indigenous Peoples Day, we join the global call to reflect on the theme “Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures.” It is a timely reminder that while the world rushes to embrace artificial intelligence and digital technologies, Indigenous Peoples must not be left behind—or worse, further marginalised—by these powerful tools.
For centuries, our communities have been excluded from the spaces where decisions about so-called “progress” and “development” are made. Whether through policies, data systems, or technologies, we have too often been rendered invisible. Artificial intelligence if developed without our participation and without regulation risks becoming yet another instrument of exclusion and oppresion.
If it is to serve our futures, it must be shaped with us, not imposed upon us.
AI holds tremendous potential. But we must ask: whose values are embedded in its algorithms? Whose languages does it speak? Whose knowledge does it protect or exploit? AI-driven surveillance is fast becoming a tool of repression against Indigenous land defenders particularly women, queer, and gender-diverse activists who face layered forms of violence. What protections must we demand to ensure AI doesn’t reinforce colonial power or silence resistance through digital means?
As Indigenous Peoples, we carry deep, intergenerational knowledge systems rooted in reciprocity, sustainability, and collective well-being. These worldviews are rarely reflected in digital infrastructures, yet they are vital to shaping technologies that serve both people and the planet.
Today, Indigenous communities around the world are not merely observers of technological change, we are active participants and innovators. From digital mapping and land monitoring of ancestral territories such as through the LandMark platform to the early use of AI-powered tools for climate resilience, we are beginning to harness new technologies to defend our rights, land and territories, and uphold our ways of life. Indigenous youth are also using social and digital media technologies to tell their own stories and build solidarity beyond borders, incredibly important and active spaces for resistance, action and cultural revival.
These tools are enabling us to monitor our lands, document threats, and assert our rights with evidence and agency. Far from being at odds with our identities, technology—when rooted in our sovereignty—can strengthen our resilience. But this requires ethical frameworks grounded in the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), community ownership, and respect for Indigenous data sovereignty.
Contrary to popular belief, Indigenous Peoples are not opposed to evolution or modernity. We support transformation—when it truly serves the needs of people and the planet. But that evolution must be ethically responsible, rooted in our moral values, and aligned with Human Rights and Indigenous rights. Used within the right framework, AI can become a powerful tool to revitalise our languages, collect and manage our data, and safeguard our knowledge systems—while protecting our intellectual property from distortion or misappropriation.
INDIGENOUS VOICES
Statement from the Indigenous Peoples' global platform and youth advisory group
16 April 2024
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