The Epistemological Foundations Conversations feature members of the Abundant Intelligences research team sharing how the knowledge frameworks in their field are constructed, validated, and employed. Our fifth conversation featured Archer Pechawis, Scott Benesiinabandan, and Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada, with moderation by Sara Diamond and hosting by Ceyda Yolgörmez.

This conversation addressed the intersection of Research-Creation and AI through Indigenous Knowledges. In the last 20 years, research-creation methodologies have emerged and been increasingly recognized within the academic research community. That being said, Indigenous Knowledge Systems have drawn on research-creation for millennia – and many artists from diverse cultures have long engaged in research as well as creation.

Academic interest into research-creation has opened the door to deeper and wider forms of knowledge exploration and sharing. This has meant the institutionalization and expansion of research-creation PhDs and grants in the UK, Australia, Canada, and some other territories. In some instances, this was not necessarily out of a genuine commitment to these practices but to help institutions achieve their research funding allocation. With such contradictions in the background, our discussion started out by defining what research-creation is for our panelists and moved on to explore the ways that they use research-creation to engage with AI.