Google Maps’ Māori voice

Google and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – the Māori Language Commission – have launched an Aotearoa New Zealand voice for Google Maps. 

The idea is for Kiwis to be able to hear Aotearoa place names the way they should sound. 

New Zealand’s Google Maps users can now experience an AI-powered text-to-speech (TTS) model that speaks English with a Kiwi accent and can correctly pronounce cities and towns with te reo Māori names. 

Caroline Rainsford, pictured, country director of Google NZ, says: “Two things have been critical to the success of this update.

“Advancements in AI have enabled our TTS model to pronounce te reo Māori place names in an English sentence and, importantly, this wouldn’t have been possible without our years-long partnership and deep collaboration with Te Taura Whiri.”

“This exciting tool secures a future for te reo Māori in the digital age,” adds Ngahiwi Apanui-Barr, chief executive of Te Taura Whiri. “We are proud to partner with Google to make New Zealand’s unique language visible, valued and voiced.

“Like all other languages, Māori place names carry stories that connect us to our histories, people and achievements. 

“The first step to unlocking those stories is correct pronunciation. If we can hear the words said correctly, we can say the words correctly. This is an important step forward in making te reo Māori a normal, everyday language.”

Māori data sovereignty and Google’s AI principles have been central to the development of the text-to-speech model. The pronunciation rules that the voice uses for Māori place names have been guided by Te Taura Whiri and publicly available New Zealand Geographic Board data. 

Initially Te Taura Whiri will be kaitiaki of the Māori lexicon. Long term, the plan is to establish a group of interested parties for the kaitiakitanga of the data. The goal is to ensure academics, researchers and communities can access this data, share the benefit and contribute to the evolution of this kaupapa.