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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS
\nPremier Wab Kinew speaks to students at Bernie Wolfe School earlier this year. The premier says he\u2019s excited for a 2026 summit that will gather hundreds of teachers to discuss AI. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m building an automatic translator for the Ojibwa language,\u201d he said in his office Thursday during an interview that culminated with an impromptu monologue about AI.<\/p>\n
Upon completion, Kinew\u2019s homemade software will be able to translate written paragraphs into Anishinaabemowin.<\/p>\n
The NDP leader said he\u2019s doing his part to digitize the endangered dialect, which his Onigaming First Nation ancestors learned and passed on through oral storytelling, and assist government-employed interpreters.<\/p>\n
Kinew, who made history in 2023 when he became the province\u2019s first First Nations premier, speaks English, French and Anishinaabemowin fluently.<\/p>\n
This new passion project is rooted in his drive to both keep the mother tongue of his ancestors alive and familiarize himself with the transformative technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cA worker with AI, from now on, is going to be like a person with a power tool versus somebody with just a screwdriver,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to 2026, his 44th birthday \u2014 Dec. 31 \u2014 and the second half of his first term, Manitoba\u2019s 25th premier has been busying himself with trying to better understand how AI could help or hinder the province he governs.<\/p>\n
The civil service adopted an internal policy on generative AI in May.<\/p>\n
This tech is being used within the bureaucracy for research, analysis and automating administrative work. The province\u2019s tool of choice? A made-in-America product: Microsoft Copilot \u2014 although a government spokesperson said the province is testing options \u201cfrom other suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local data experts have warned the province\u2019s competitiveness, business dynamism and sovereignty are all being threatened by the data-driven and AI economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we do not own and control the facilities, networks, and compute capacity where this data resides, the benefits will flow outward,\u201d Manitoba\u2019s Innovation and Productivity Taskforce, chaired by Jim Balsillie, said in an October report prepared for the province.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe antidote is sovereign strategic investment and governance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we do not own and control the facilities, networks, and compute capacity where this data resides, the benefits will flow outward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The future of Manitoba\u2019s AI workforce, ecosystem and the kinds of infrastructure required to power it are top of mind for Kinew.<\/p>\n
One of the things he\u2019s most excited about in the new year is a summit that will gather teachers to discuss AI.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of teachers from the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 and post-secondary sectors are scheduled to meet Jan. 16 for a conference put on by Manitoba Education.<\/p>\n
Sinead Bovell, a Canadian futurist who founded tech education company WAYE, will serve as the keynote speaker.<\/p>\n
As far as Kinew is concerned, the province has a responsibility to prepare young people for an AI-powered future so they are competitive in the job market.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the father of three is aware of the ethical and environmental impacts of accessing this rapidly-evolving technology.<\/p>\n
Existing AI tools, including models running on his laptop to understand, generate, translate and summarize human language, are \u201cprobably the most powerful educational tools that we\u2019ve invented until now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they are also being deployed by massive, massive companies that are effectively (spying on us).\u201d<\/p>\n
Manitoba ethicist Arthur Schafer has spoken at length about the negative impact that surveillance capitalism can have on one\u2019s creativity and personal development.<\/p>\n
Schafer\u2019s thoughts on the subject gives the premier pause, both as a dad and elected official, he said, adding that the major AI companies are based in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Within a year of taking office, the NDP government introduced an outright ban on cellphones in elementary schools. High schoolers are, as of September 2024, no longer supposed to have personal devices out during instructional periods.<\/p>\n
There are exemptions for accessibility and teacher-approved tasks.<\/p>\n
Given he\u2019s generally opposed to removing technology from any equation, the premier said he had to be convinced to crack down on screentime in schools.<\/p>\n
But a decade of backlash against U.S.-based social media giants and growing concern about children and youth attention spans ultimately proved impossible to ignore, Kinew said.<\/p>\n
Compliance has been varied, owing to individual educators\u2019 philosophies and classroom management.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at the cusp of a similar decision point on AI,\u201d Kinew said, adding that this topic is far bigger than education alone.<\/p>\n
This summer, Ottawa announced it was partnering with Cohere, a multinational technology company that specializes in AI, to build \u201cCanada\u2019s AI ecosystem and internal AI services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinew said he\u2019s been thinking about what a local AI workforce could look like, as well as if Manitobans are willing to entertain data centres as \u201chuge power consumers and huge consumers of water.\u201d<\/p>\n
The self-described tech nerd said he does not have all the answers, but he\u2019s certain that workers who can leverage AI will outperform those who cannot.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumanity will be better off if we ensure Indigenous languages survive into the digital and AI-powered future because they offer a different way of seeing the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen as to whether Manitoba will regulate AI in classrooms.<\/p>\n
For now, Kinew is endorsing guidelines by the Winnipeg School Division, where his youngest child is enrolled.<\/p>\n
The division is promoting the responsible use of AI-powered chatbots and related tools with an \u201cAI-assisted, never AI-led\u201d philosophy.<\/p>\n
Staff and students are being asked to consider the ethics of every prompt, how it is tied to reconciliation and ensure they are not inputting confidential information.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cHumanity will be better off if we ensure Indigenous languages survive into the digital and AI-powered future because they offer a different way of seeing the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more diversity that we have, the more perspective, the stronger our future societies.\u201d<\/p>\n
His government prioritized numerous initiatives to revitalize Indigenous languages \u2014 which are, as of this year, official languages of instruction in the Public School Act.<\/p>\n
Manitoba released a throne speech in Anishinaabemowin for the first time this year and began publishing official house proceeding transcripts in the language.<\/p>\n
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Maggie Macintosh Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie<\/a>.<\/p>\n Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Education reporter
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