Episode
Can AI Save Indigenous Languages? | Michael Running Wolf (Ep. 25)
- Podcast
- Life with Machines
- Published
- Jun 17, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 4077
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://lifewithmachines.media/
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Summary
Every two weeks, the world loses a language. Most of those losses are happening in the U.S. In this episode of Life with Machines, Baratunde talks with Michael Running Wolf, a Northern Cheyenne technologist using AI to help Indigenous communities reclaim their languages—and their power. But here’s the twist: it’s not just that AI can help save these languages. It turns out AI needs them.Because when you train language models on Indigenous languages—languages that are dense, precise, and built for oral transmission—the models perform better. More accurate. Less prone to error. That’s not a diversity talking point. That’s a systems upgrade. Michael shares his remarkable journey from growing up without electricity on a reservation to working on Amazon Alexa—and now building VR classrooms and community-owned data systems. His work flips the script on who gets to shape the future of technology, and on what terms. ------------ THANKS TO OUR BRAND PARTNER The series is powered by Lenovo CONNECT WITH US Watch this episode on Youtube! Get our newsletter for deeper insights, chances to influence the show, and more experiments and calls to action! ------------ Follow us! Instagram TikTok Threads LinkedIn Work with Life With Machines: [email protected] Send Questions, Comments, or Ideas: [email protected] Write to Blair: [email protected] ------------ Created and Executive Produced by: Elizabeth Stewart and Baratunde Thurston Executive Producer and Showrunner: Alie Kilts Senior Producer and Writer: Alex Stone Associate Producer: Layne Deyling Cherland Video Editor: Erik Shute Videographer and Audio Engineer: Erik Shute Theme Music: Andy Clausen Special Envoy to the Machines: Peter Loforte Life with Machines is a Multiverses Media production S…