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Artificial intelligence (AI) is an incredible tool for outsourcing everyday tasks. But it can struggle with local nuance, whether that’s regional accents, distinctive vocabulary or cultural concepts. As the use of AI proliferates and it becomes integrated into all aspects of our lives, cultural gaps are becoming more apparent.
That is leading to questions from governments, businesses and individuals: how can AI be better at reflecting local culture? Can it speak our national languages? Does it understand cultural imagery? Can it generate culturally appropriate text and images? Locally attuned AI can do all that, and more. And, as Lou Compagnone, Director of AI at Datacom, explains, when you get it right, people really notice.
“When your AI is culturally authentic, and it has that local context, you deliver a better experience to people. It supports indigenous languages, and, with the right infrastructure, it also keeps your local data safe. And for businesses, it can create a competitive advantage,” Compagnone explains.
What could that look like? Switzerland is leading the way, with not only locally attuned AI, but also the local infrastructure to train and support it. The nation’s new large language model (LLM) is scheduled for release shortly, developed using a Swiss supercomputer, trained on open-source Swiss data, and hosted locally. The resulting LLM will be fluent in the national languages, and focuses on scientific, educational and healthcare applications. The idea is an LLM that’s for the public good, not just to be another general chatbot.
It could be a blueprint for the world, according to Forbes, because it “embodies a transformative vision of how AI can be systematically designed, deployed and governed to serve humanity's highest aspirations”.
By using local infrastructure to create its AI, not only is the LLM culturally attuned, but local information stays onshore, and Swiss citizens don’t need to worry about outages from international suppliers. This ‘technological sovereignty’ gives Switzerland a higher degree of self-sufficiency when it comes to data, says Compagnone.
“The Swiss model is a really fantastic example of how to do it. They have their own version of ChatGPT that’s culturally aware and speaks all their local languages, with in-country processing. The United Arab Emirates is doing a similar project, with huge AI factories. India is working on an LLM that will speak all 22 of its official languages, and use has been growing by 20% every month.”
The rich, diverse cultures of Australia and New Zealand are an important part of what makes both nations unique and special. By developing local AI models, we can help to protect our languages, iconography and indigenous cultural capital.
Even at the most basic level, an AI tool that has an ear for accents and local words makes life easier. For example, Māori words are an everyday part of New Zealand culture and language, but global AI tools aren’t good at recognising and transcribing them. In Australia, AI could help record and protect its more than 250 Indigenous languages and 800 dialects.
For local companies, when AI is aligned to local culture, a customer’s experience feels more authentic, a valuable attribute in a competitive climate. Local knowledge leads to improved understanding of what the customer wants, better service and fewer missteps. With local infrastructure underneath, Australasian companies can also be assured that prompts are processed on shore and data remains protected.
“What’s exciting is that we now know that AI can be used to build AI, so this process doesn’t need to be as resource intensive or expensive as you might imagine,” Compagnone says. “This will pave the way for governments and businesses to become technologically self-sufficient, protecting their data as well as their unique culture.”
AI missteps can be reputationally damaging and lead to loss of trust among the public. Recently, an AI-generated video was shown in a New Zealand movie theatre, incorrectly depicting aspects of Māori culture, including tā moko. The incident made national headlines, with one commentator telling RNZ, “AI can be offensive and misleading and we really need a human in the loop when we’re creating online content like this."
To prevent incidents like this, companies need local AI, created using local expertise. Relying only on international partners means your company’s AI could lack the local nuance that makes it feel genuine. Datacom’s AI and innovation services are locally embedded, culturally aware and committed to building and deploying AI that works for the people and markets we serve across Australia and New Zealand.
“This is about making sure AI works for everyone, not just the people it was designed by,” says Compagnone. “Local AI is about being collaborative and beneficial, for individuals, for businesses and ultimately at a national level.”
Artificial intelligence is transforming work and life, driving a fundamental shift. Datacom blends deep local expertise with global AI capabilities to deliver human-first AI solutions for enterprises and government.
Our focus is on building strong foundations that help organisations harness AI effectively to accelerate their journey and enhance — rather than disrupt — the workforce. Across Australia and New Zealand, our consultants support clients with governance, proof-of-concepts, AI tools and safe experimentation environments, empowering smarter decisions and greater impact.
