Indigenous journalists discuss AI with skepticism, interest

During Indigenous Media Conference panels this week, speakers and audience members examined AI's impact on tribal lands and journalism ethics.

Mike Reilley, a senior lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago presents on AI reporting tools during the Indigenous Media Conference in Portland, Oregon. Photo by Joseph Morales

By Joseph Morales and Trina Tsinnie

Debates over the use of artificial intelligence have become a daily conversation across Indian Country, and journalists at the 2026 Indigenous Media Conference are navigating the rising space with criticism, curiosity and more. 

On the ground, many reporters and editors are seeing conflicts over the placement of data centers on tribal lands and the potential impacts on water sources, while others are writing about the concerns of cultural theft and appropriation in AI learning models. 

“We need to find a way. A way without draining every river, lake and body of water,” said Mike Reilley, a senior lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago, during the “AI Reporting Tools for Journalists” panel Wednesday.

And for journalists considering using AI, there are many unresolved ethical questions, Reilley said. It’s a world that requires a cautious curiosity about the capabilities of AI, he said, and to remember that new technology can’t replace boots on the ground reporting.

These stories involving environmental management concerns are often conflicts between tribal nations are powerful corporate interests, said Mongabay’s Indigenous Affairs Editor Latoya Abulu during the panel “Does Climate Journalism Actually Care About the Climate?” on Thursday. It’s vital that journalists include the voices of the Indigenous peoples that may not easily be able to speak truth to such power.

“Corporations around the world avoid accountability and destroy places and people” she said.  

For example, residents and farmers from Thailand’s Chonburi and neighboring Rayong province, which suffer from water shortages and pollution, have raised fears about the environmental impacts of data center expansion in the area – the digital infrastructure that powers AI. Data centers require large volumes of water for cooling and a large amount of energy to operate.

“There seems to be a lot of skepticisms and caution,” said Thomas Pablo, an Indigenous affairs reporter at KOSU in Oklahoma City and a descendant of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Tribal leaders often tell him that companies wanting to build data centers say they are the future, Thomas said, but some tribes are maintaining their sovereign right to regulate their own lands.

For generations, external groups have extracted Indigenous land, culture, language and stories. As tech companies and governments start to develop infrastructures with AI and data centers, tribal citizens are asking their leaders to assert their tribal sovereignty to protect resources like  water and energy. For journalists like Pablo, this requires not just an understanding of the technology, but also the legal powers of tribal nations. 

Earlier this year, leaders with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma made history by becoming the first tribal nation in the U.S. to ban the use of generative AI infrastructure and the building of hyper scale data centers on its lands. The tribe’s council voted unanimously on the measure. Tribes like the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians later passed similar bans.

Conversations about artificial intelligence have been prevalent at the 2026 Indigenous Media Conference, and these spaces prove how providing an environment for discussion is crucial for understanding the ever changing and evolving scene of journalism. 

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