AI Bush Legend Character
As AI-generated images and videos become more common, indigenous people are increasingly concerned about digital forms of cultural appropriation and “blackface”.
TikTok, Facebook and Instagram star who shares stories about Australian animals is growing in popularity.
The short, straightforward videos feature an Aboriginal man – sometimes painted with ochre, on other occasions dressed entirely in khaki – as he introduces different native animals and facts about them.
Comments on the videos frequently reference his effusive personality, with some saying he needs his own television show.
But… the Bush Legend is not real. It is generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
This is part of a growing influx of AI being used to represent indigenous peoples, knowledge and cultures without any community accountability or relationships with indigenous peoples. It forms a new type of cultural appropriation, something that increasingly concerns indigenous peoples.
@bushlegend.offical the Dugite snake #aussie #nature #snake ♬ Wild and powerful didgeridoo Primitive(1478108) – Shinnosuke Shibata
Do users know it is AI?
In the user description, the Bush Legend pages say the visuals are AI. But will the average user who scrolls through videos on their social networks click on a profile to read these details?
Some of the videos feature AI watermarks or mention that they are AI in the caption. But many in the audience will be completely unaware that this person is not real and that the entire video is artificially generated.
These videos “bait” the public across a spectrum that ranges from cute and adorable to extremely dangerous creatures. Comments left on the videos question how close humans are to animals, along with words of encouragement.
Danger of racism and AI ethics
With any indigenous content on the internet (authentic or AI), there continue to be racist comments.
While the Bush Legend is neither real nor culturally ingrained, it is also not immune to online racism.
Although this does not affect the creator, it may affect indigenous people who are reading the comments.
The only information available about Bush Legend, other than the fact that it is AI, is that the creator is based in Aotearoa New Zealand. This suggests that there is probably no connection to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from which this similarity is being drawn.
Accountability towards the communities involved is not considered in this scenario.
Indigenous people have long struggled to tell their own stories.
AI poses yet another way in which your self-determination is diminished. It also serves as a way for non-Indigenous people to distance themselves from actual Indigenous people, allowing them to interact with content that is manufactured and often more palatable.
“IA Blakface”?
In an article on , Tamika Worrellprofessor of Critical Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University (Australia), writes that we are witnessing the emergence of a Blakface AI which is used easily thanks to the availability and prevalence of AI.
Non-indigenous people and entities are able to create indigenous personas through AI, often based on stereotypical representations that both amalgamate and appropriate cultures.
The Bush Legend is often seen wearing cultural jewelry and with ocher painted on his skin. How these elements are generated are superficial appropriations and lack the necessary cultural bases for these practices.
This forms a new type of appropriation, which prolongs violence that indigenous peoples already experience in the digital domain, particularly on social media. “The theft of indigenous knowledge for generative AI constitutes a new type of algorithmic settler colonialism, affecting indigenous self-determination,” writes the researcher.
The most worrying thing is that these AI Blakfaces can be monetized and lead to financial gains for the creator.
