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Alice Springs ARN

AI Literacy for the Aboriginal Researcher Network

Two short courses and a resource library, prepared for ARN members and others working in research across Central Australia. Practical, plain-language material you can read in any order.

// Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Arrernte people as the Traditional Owners and custodians of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and the surrounding Country, on whose lands this work is shared. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and celebrate the work of their current and emerging leaders.

We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their Elders as the Traditional Owners of the lands and seas of Australia, with an enduring connection to culture, family, language and Country.

We recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold authority over their own knowledge, data and cultural expression. The information shared here is offered to support informed decision-making, not to direct it.

// about this material

About this material

This is a set of supportive reference pages, not a fixed course to work through in order. Each page stands on its own, so you can read whatever is useful, in whatever order suits. Every page ends with a glossary, and most have a one-page cheat sheet you can print and take with you.

The material is offered as practical AI literacy. It does not advise on cultural protocols or on what communities should do; where deeper cultural or data-governance questions arise, those decisions sit with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, the ARN, CAAHSN, and the relevant communities. The resource library below points to the frameworks written by and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

ZSCV011

AI & Online Cyber Safety Skills

Foundations for everyday life: what AI is, using it safely, and protecting yourself, your family and your community online. A good place to start.

What Is AI, Really? A plain-English introduction to AI chatbots, and where they get things right and wrong. Just Ask It The fastest way to find out what an AI can do is to ask the AI itself. Scams, Phishing, and Dodgy Messages Spotting scams, how AI makes them harder to pick, and what to do if you have clicked. Deepfakes and AI-Generated Content Spotting fake images, voices and video, and protecting your own likeness. Staying Safe, For You, Family and Community Looking out for the people around you, and a paced safe-use checklist.
// workshop presentation

How Scammers Fake It with AI

A browser-based slide presentation that follows on from the pages above: cloned voices, deepfake endorsements, spoofed websites, and the fake online casino ("scambling") scams targeting NT communities right now. Made for the ARN workshop; usable by anyone, on any device.

Open the presentation 19 slides; runs in the browser, arrow keys or swipe to move.
// hands-on simulation

Can AI Read My Handwriting and Understand My Voice?

A question researchers ask constantly, answered by doing: upload a handwritten page and a voice memo, watch OCR and speech-to-text work step by step, see how messiness and background noise turn into confident errors, and follow your file on its real journey to an overseas data centre. Directly relevant to interview transcription and digitising handwritten notes.

Open the simulation Interactive, self-paced, runs in the browser; pairs well with Handling Data Responsibly.
ZSCV009

AI & Cyber Essentials

AI in the research role: using these tools responsibly in remote and regional health research, handling data well, and the Indigenous Data Sovereignty and ICIP questions that come with it.

AI in the Research Role Where AI helps across the research workflow, and where it fails at research stakes. Prompting for Research Clear instructions that get accurate, useful work out of an AI. AI for Literature and Evidence Using AI across a review safely, and why an AI is not a search engine. Getting It Right: Hallucinations, Citations and Verification Why AI invents facts and references, and a habit for catching it. Indigenous Data Sovereignty, ICIP and Research Ethics The frameworks, the questions AI raises, and where these decisions sit. Handling Data Responsibly with AI Tools What to put in, what to keep out, free versus workplace tools, and the rules. Using AI Remotely What AI costs in data, and how to use it on remote NT connections. A Research Prompt Gallery Ready prompts for common research tasks, to copy and make your own.
// resource library

ICIP and Data Sovereignty Resource Library

An annotated collection of the key sources on Indigenous Data Sovereignty, Indigenous protocols for AI, research ethics, cultural and intellectual property, Australian AI governance, practical cyber security, and online safety resources made with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Every entry links to the real source.

Open the resource library Grouped by category, each with a plain-language summary and a checked link.