Life with Machines

Can AI Save Indigenous Languages? | Michael Running Wolf (Ep. 25)

17 Jun 2025

Audio

Description

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 Sponsored by Lenovo #AIforGood #IndigenousTech #LanguageRevitalization #EndangeredLanguages #MichaelRunningWolf #LifeWithMachines #NativeVoices #AIandCulture #DataSovereignty #TechForJustice #IndigenousAI #AIethics #OralTradition #VRinEducation #AIandEquity #FutureOfLanguage #Cheyenne #AIInnovation

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes

🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Other recent transcribed episodes

Transcribed and ready to explore now

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

2ª PARTE | 06 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

3ª PARTE | 22 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

3ª PARTE | 04 MAR 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.

Report any issue

Life with Machines

Can AI Save Indigenous Languages? | Michael Running Wolf (Ep. 25)

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

2ª PARTE | 06 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

3ª PARTE | 22 ENE 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

3ª PARTE | 04 MAR 2026 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

Sign in to Audioscrape

Share this moment