AI Works
AI that serves your community — not empire.
We help small businesses, community groups, and educators understand, question, and reshape AI. We start with the hard questions — who benefits, who is harmed — then build small, careful, reversible ways to work that keep you in control.
No-obligation kōrero with Robert
AI is infrastructure of power, not a neutral tool
Today's large-scale AI systems are built by a handful of corporations that consume vast amounts of data, land, energy, water, and labour — then use the promise of “benefiting humanity” to justify extraction and concentrate wealth and control. AI Works exists to help our communities see this clearly and respond on their own terms.
We're an AI training and advisory service in Ōtepoti Dunedin. We work mainly with small and medium organisations, community groups, and educators who want to use technology thoughtfully — reducing dependence on Big Tech, protecting data dignity, and grounding every decision in local context and Te Tiriti.
Who We Help
Small business owners, community organisers, educators, unions, NGOs, and local councils across Aotearoa who want AI literacy that comes with a conscience — not just another sales pitch.
Our Stance
Plain language, no hype, no “AI as magic”. We name power and harm honestly, then pair every concern with practical, hopeful action you can take locally and in solidarity with others.
Resistance, refusal, and reimagining
The path AI takes is not inevitable — it is shaped by political decisions and can be redirected through collective action. These principles guide every workshop and conversation.
Ask who benefits
Before any tool, we ask who profits, who is harmed, and what power structures it reinforces. Clarity first, software second.
Data dignity
Most people never consented to training these systems. We help you keep control of your data, your language, and your knowledge.
Low-impact by default
We favour small, slow, re-used, and permacomputing approaches over hyperscale cloud — less energy, water, and waste.
Cooperative & Indigenous-led
We point toward worker-owned platforms and community-run infrastructure like Te Hiku Media's sovereign te reo Māori work.
Refuse surveillance
We help you question contracts with predictive policing, border tech, and surveillance advertising — and build alternatives.
Local to global solidarity
Your local struggle — a data centre, a vendor contract, algorithmic management — connects to movements worldwide.
Practical support, grounded in resistance
We don't lead with tools. We lead with questions — then help you act, whether that means a different workflow, organising with others, or refusing a system altogether.
AI Harm & Dependency Audits
We map how the tools you use rely on data extraction, surveillance advertising, and Big Tech lock-in — then find lower-impact or non-AI alternatives.
Critical AI Literacy Workshops
Hands-on sessions for teams, classrooms, and community groups: how to audit AI systems, question hype, and set boundaries that protect people.
Council, NGO & Civic Tech Advisory
Community-led technology assessments. We help you map your relationships with Big Tech and prefer community-controlled data and open-weight models.
Privacy-First Workflows
If you do use AI, we design limited, transparent, reversible workflows with clear data boundaries and a plan to migrate away from proprietary platforms.
Worker & Union Support
Help for unions, professional bodies, and worker collectives to write their own AI policies, refusal strategies, and governance principles.
Cooperative & Local Alternatives
Guidance toward worker-owned platforms, Indigenous-led data infrastructure, local-language models, and slow, re-used hardware.
How We Work
Start with the hard questions, reduce dependence, and build power with others.
Honest Conversation
A no-obligation kōrero about your organisation and the pressure you're under to 'adopt AI'. We start by asking who benefits, who is harmed, and what's really needed.
Map Harms & Dependencies
We look at the tools and contracts you already have, and trace where they extract data, energy, and labour — and where you've become dependent on Big Tech.
Choose a Path
Often the best option is a non-imperial tool, an open-weight or self-hosted model, a cooperative platform — or no AI at all. We design limited, reversible, transparent workflows.
Act & Organise
Every engagement ends with at least one concrete action: a resistance tactic, a real campaign to learn from, or a way to organise with unions, co-ops, councils, or community tech groups.
Download Sample Curriculums
Free, critical AI education for community groups, unions, organisers, and educators. Each sample pairs plain-language understanding with hard questions about power, data, and control — so your community decides how to fight back, adapt, or refuse.
Critical AI Literacy
For Everyone
The foundation course. Understand what AI actually is, who owns it, how it is built on extracted labour and data, and how to think clearly about it without hype or fear.
Modules included:
- What AI Is (And What the Marketing Hides)
- The Empire of AI: Who Owns It and Who Pays
- Spotting Hype, Harm, and Real Capability
- Asking Better Questions Before You Use It
AI for Community Groups
Community & Grassroots Groups
For community organisations, marae, clubs, and grassroots groups deciding whether and how to use AI without selling out their values, data, or members.
Modules included:
- AI and Your Group's Values
- Protecting Your Members and Their Data
- Practical, Low-Harm Uses for Small Groups
- Setting a Group AI Policy Together
AI for Unions & Workers
Unions & Workers
For union members, delegates, and workers facing AI in the workplace. Understand automation, surveillance, and deskilling, and how to organise and bargain over AI.
Modules included:
- AI in the Workplace: What's Really Happening
- Surveillance, Monitoring, and Your Rights
- Automation, Deskilling, and Job Security
- Organising and Bargaining Over AI
AI & Collective Action
Organisers & Campaigns
For organisers and campaigners. How AI is used to surveil and divide movements, how to protect your people, and how to organise effectively in an age of algorithmic power.
Modules included:
- How Power Uses AI Against Movements
- Protecting Organisers and Communities
- Safer Communication and Digital Security
- Building Power Without Selling Out
Data Sovereignty & Self-Defence
Privacy & Data Dignity
Practical digital self-defence for individuals and groups. Understand how your data is harvested for AI, reclaim some control, and learn about Indigenous data sovereignty.
Modules included:
- How Your Data Becomes Their AI
- Practical Digital Self-Defence
- Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Te Tiriti
- Reclaiming Control as a Community
AI for Educators & Public Talks
Educators & Facilitators
For teachers, facilitators, and community educators who want to teach critical AI literacy. Tools, framings, and activities to lead honest conversations about AI.
Modules included:
- Teaching AI Without Hype or Doom
- Critical Framings and Discussion Activities
- Handling Hard Questions and Mixed Rooms
- Building Your Own Local Curriculum
Want a workshop tailored to your group, union, or community?
Call 022 400 4387 to discussLet's reshape AI so it serves your community
Whether you're a business, a school, a union, a council, or a community group — start with a no-obligation conversation. No hype, no pressure, no sales pitch for empire.