AI community project seeding new business ideas

Saturday, 28 September 2024

Local organisations say the Nelson AI Sandbox is helping remove fear about AI, and breaking down barriers to access and understanding.

An AI engine that can take an organisation’s phone calls and respond to queries is among ventures started through the Nelson AI Sandbox.

The idea was thought up by a volunteer at the free AI discovery space, who discussed the proposition with visitors and peers, the centre’s co-founder Richard Brudvik-Lindner said.

Now the volunteer was starting to build a business around the technology after a local company offered to try it out.

The Nelson AI Sandbox initiative, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Nelson AI Institute, was helping put Nelson on the map as 'an emergent centre for AI excellence' in New Zealand, Brudvik Lindner said.

Since opening its doors in Nelson CBD six months ago, it had started tracking towards other goals too, he said.

“The overall aim is to make the Nelson Tasman region a more prosperous, equitable and vital place by enabling and upskilling residents, while incubating our emerging AI sector.”

Richard Brudvik-Lindner, right, and another co-founder of the Nelson AI Sandbox, Matthew Kidson.

There was a pressing need for communities in New Zealand to ”future-proof“ themselves by exploring both the opportunities AI presented, and the challenges and concerns it posed, Brudvik-Lindner said.

For its part, the Nelson region was heavily dependent on resource-intensive industries which depended on manual labour, and it had the second lowest productivity in New Zealand and the worst forecast for economic growth, he said.

The Sandbox model could help empower communities nationwide to develop innovation-based economies and adapt to a world where AI was prolific, he said.

Over 6000 people had engaged with the Nelson AI Sandbox - a place where anyone could get a “free hands-on AI experience” and learn about the technology and its applications.

Emma Thompson, managing director of Nelson PR, marketing and brand business, Publik Agency, describes the company’s approach to AI, during a visit to the Nelson AI Sandbox by Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins last week.

Over 500 people had also joined free workshops and public presentations through the initiative, whose sponsors had increased - from around 12 to 30.

Multiple Nelson organisations had attended dozens of AI training and AI familiarisation sessions.

Among them was local PR, marketing and brand company, Publik Agency.

Managing director Emma Thompson had eyed AI with trepidation last year, fearing it could wipe out the business, which created output like photography, design, media communications and video.

Ngāti Kuia chief executive, Eugene Whakahoehoe, speaking to visiting Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, Judith Collins, at Nelson AI Sandbox last week.

But using the Sandbox to explore AI - and deciding how to best use the technology - had helped the business restructure its offering for the better, she said.

The business opted to use AI for its internal operations and data only. Using AI like the Microsoft Co-pilot helped do things like find documents within the business' systems, compare reports, and speed up minute-taking, Thompson said.

Investigating what the business did well that AI couldn’t, saw the firm amplify its “human superpowers” like relationships (including stakeholder and community engagement) and understanding the context of stories, she said.

Ngāti Kuia chief executive, Eugene Whakahoehoe, said the opportunities to use AI to empower were boundless.

Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins visited the Nelson AI Sandbox during a visit to Nelson last week.

The iwi was using AI internally to improve efficiencies around how Ngāti Kuia supported its whanau, from the crafting of decision-making documents, to workflow enhancements, he said.

“We’ve automated the mundane, we’ve amplified the exciting and the interesting.

“Specifically we’re able to reach more of our whanau, more consistently with better information and products to support their lives.”

A rangatahi (young person) who had started working at Te Rūnanga Ngāti Kuia Trust as a labourer, had been through AI training and was now helping lead the iwi’s adoption of AI, Whakahoehoe said.

“We’d like to think that he’s going to be just one example where we can really help people to accelerate their skill sets, especially our whānau, into any area where they choose to go.”

Data sovereignty was always front of mind for Ngāti Kuia, and the iwi was navigating AI with caution, Whakahoehoe said.

But the technology had given Ngāti Kuia more time, resources and tools to help whānau celebrate the uniqueness of being Ngāti Kuia, from planning events to enhancing their learning experiences.

The Sandbox had helped break down barriers between whānau and AI, he said.

“To remove the fear [of AI], and improve equity of access to these systems and tools.”