Michael Running Wolf

{{Short description|Native American software engineer and researcher in British Columbia}}

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| name = Michael Running Wolf

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| birth_place = Montana

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| citizenship = Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, American

| education = McGill University

| alma_mater = Montana State University-Bozeman, BS, MS

| occupation = Software engineer

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Michael Running Wolf is a Native American software engineer, artificial intelligence researcher, and advocate committed to preserving endangered Indigenous languages through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). A citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Running Wolf leverages his background in computer science to develop technology aimed at preserving, protecting, and growing endangered Indigenous languages through the use of culturally respectful applications.{{Cite web |last=Mabie |first=Nora |date=2023-01-16 |title=Meet Michael Running Wolf, the man using AI to reclaim Native languages |url=https://missoulian.com/news/local/meet-michael-running-wolf-the-man-using-ai-to-reclaim-native-languages/article_9cdd8db4-4074-5edb-9fa4-74773cdb9464.html |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=The Missoulian |language=en}}

Early life and education

Running Wolf, born to a Cheyenne mother and Lakota father,{{Cite web |last=Ottenhof |first=Luke |date=2023-10-25 |title="It's Like Dropping a Bomb on the Louvre:" The Remarkable Race to Save These Critical Languages Before They Die |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a45521181/will-artificial-intelligence-save-native-languages/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425222454/https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a45521181/will-artificial-intelligence-save-native-languages/ |archive-date=2024-04-25 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=Popular Mechanics |language=en-US}} grew up in the remote Cheyenne village of Birney, Montana.{{Cite web |title=Preserving Indigenous cultures and languages with the help of AI |url=https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/preserving-indigenous-cultures-and-languages-with-the-help-of-ai/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Marketplace |language=en-US}} Running Wolf's early interest in technology came in the form of his Atari video game console and modifying his TI-84 graphing calculator to play games.{{Cite web |last=Peyush |first=Aditi |date=2021-06-04 |title=From Atari games to AR/VR, Michael Running Wolf is revitalizing indigenous languages |url=https://www.khoury.northeastern.edu/from-atari-games-to-ar-vr-michael-running-wolf-is-revitalizing-indigenous-languages/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=Northeastern University {{!}} Khoury College of Computer Sciences |language=en-US}} While Running Wolf's family did not have consistent access to electricity, he would learn how to code his calculator through printouts of instructions, often given to him by his teachers.{{Cite web |last=Stening |first=Tanner |date=2021-10-08 |title=Protecting Indigenous Languages Using Automatic Speech Recognition |url=https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/10/08/protecting-indigenous-languages-using-automatic-speech-recognition/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Northeastern Global News |language=en-US}}

Career and research

Running Wolf holds a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science from Montana State University-Bozeman, and is a Ph.D. student at McGill University in Quebec, Canada.{{Cite web |title=Michael Running Wolf |url=https://www.csedweek.org/cs-heroes/michael-running-wolf |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=CSEdWeek |language=en}} His work on Amazon's Alexa and seeing how a team of Maori researchers preserved the Maori language using AI spurred an interest in how artificial intelligence could be used to save endangered Indigenous languages.{{Cite web |title="Indigenous languages don't make it easy for AI" |url=https://www.kulturaustausch.de/en/issues/issue-i-2024/indigenous-languages-dont-make-it-easy-for-ai/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Kulturaustausch |language=en-GB}} Running Wolf founded Indigenous in AI, an initiative focusing on creating automatic speech recognition tools for Indigenous languages in North America. Running Wolf cites the lack of data in Indigenous languages and the complexity of polysynthetic languages in current voice recognition models as a particular challenge to pre-existing models.{{Cite web |last=Hao |first=Karen |date=2022-04-22 |title=A new vision of artificial intelligence for the people |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/22/1050394/artificial-intelligence-for-the-people/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=MIT Technology Review |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Newitz |first=Annalee |date=2023-09-27 |title=How artificial intelligence is helping keep Indigenous languages alive |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/0-how-artificial-intelligence-is-helping-keep-indigenous-languages-alive/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}} To solve this, Running Wolf has done extensive research on the Wakashan language family, which is highly polysynthetic.

Additionally, he is exploring immersive technology through the use of virtual reality to make learning Indigenous language more engaging through the use of virtual environments and coding camps, such as the Lakota AI Camp,{{Cite web |last=Coffey |first=Donavyn |date=2024-01-24 |title=Indigenous Youth Are Using Coding and AI to Save Native Language |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/these-coding-camps-are-teaching-indigenous-youth-to-save-native-language-through-ai |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Teen Vogue |language=en-US}} to engage Indigenous youth.

Advocacy for ethical AI

Running Wolf is an advocate for data sovereignty within Indigenous communities. He advocates for the decolonization of user data by agreeing that the Indigenous community in which the data comes from is the owner of the data being used and is in full control of it. By having Indigenous people build the technology for their communities, Running Wolf believes that it could uplift Indigenous communities by having ownership of such technology. Running Wolf also believes that allowing Indigenous cultures to be pushed into extended spaces, such as the Meta-verse, would inspire future technologists and anthropologists to continue researching Indigenous languages, further helping the effort to grow their existence.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}