Danielle Boyer
Danielle Boyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2000 or 2001 (age 25–26) |
| Citizenship | Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians |
| Website | danielleboyer |
Danielle Boyer (born 2000 or 2001) is an American roboticist. Boyer, who is Anishinaabe, is interested in using robotics technology to supplement the learning of indigenous languages.
Personal life
[edit]Boyer is Anishinaabe (Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians)[1][2] and grew up in Detroit[3] and in Sault Ste. Marie,[4] on the northern peninsula of Michigan.[5] She was homeschooled, but joined the robotics team of a local high school.[6] However, she was bullied by other members of the team, which she attributed to being one of the only girls and the only Native American on the team.[7]
Career
[edit]Boyer designed her first robot at age 17.[4] She founded The STEAM Connection in early 2019, when she was 18.[9] The organization aims to give Native children access to basic robotics education.[7]
SkoBot
[edit]Boyer is the inventor of the SkoBot, a wearable interactive robot which aims to supplement language learning of Anishinaabemowin.[10][5][3] Boyer developed the SkoBot in collaboration with two mentors.[5] The robot's speech recognition program uses a "narrow" form of artificial intelligence; Boyer built and trained the program herself, and the system connects solely to a paired phone, rather than a third-party data collection reservoir.[11] When prompted with a voice cue, the SkoBot plays recordings of words or phrases made by fluent speakers.[11] The program works solely on pre-recorded audio files, preventing issues such as AI hallucinations.[11][12] Boyer has worked to produce the SkoBots and provide them to schools and youth programs serving indigenous youth for free;[11] in some cases, she has worked with children directly, allowing them to personalize their own SkoBots and help build them.[5]
Boyer has expressed that she is not interested in selling her software or the SkoBots to a third party, citing both concerns about indigenous self-determination and cultural ownership, and concerns about how large language models might impact minority languages.[5]
Awards and recognition
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 "Young Social Innovators compete for $145K In Westly Prize Awards". InMenlo. 2025-01-15. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "About". The STEAM Connection. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- 1 2 Witze, Alexandra (Summer 2025). "Robots that Speak to Many". National Museum of the American Indian Magazine. 26 (2). National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- 1 2 3 Kiehnle, Grace (2024-11-06). "23-Year-Old Invents Robot to Preserve Indigenous Languages". San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Duffy, Clare (2025-09-02). "This new tech could save old languages from dying out | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "Native American inventor Danielle Boyer combines tradition and innovation through robotics". ABC News. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- 1 2 Fernandes, Deepa; Locke, Ashley; Muhammad, Jeannette (2022-10-10). "How robots can teach Native American children the power of 'us being ourselves'". WBUR. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ Drake, Kinsale (2022-11-09). "Meet These 11 Indigenous Youth Making a Difference in their Communities". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- 1 2 "Danielle Boyer - 20 in their 20s 2021". Crain's Detroit Business. 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ Jampel, Serena. "Can A.I. Help Revitalize Indigenous Languages?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Groth, Aimee (2026-08-27). "TIME100 AI 2026: Danielle Boyer". TIME. Retrieved 2026-09-01.
- ↑ K (2026-07-26). "Meet the robots programmed by kids to speak their Indigenous languages". NPR. Retrieved 2026-09-01.
- ↑ "Danielle Boyer". Echoing Green Fellows Directory. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "2025 Fellow Danielle Boyer". Monument Lab. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
- ↑ "Danielle Boyer | Post Next 50". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2025-11-07.
External links
[edit]- 2000s births
- Living people
- 21st-century American inventors
- 21st-century American LGBTQ people
- 21st-century American women inventors
- 21st-century Native American scientists
- 21st-century Native American women
- American LGBTQ scientists
- American queer women
- American roboticists
- Native American language revitalization
- Native American LGBTQ people
- Native American people from Michigan
- Ojibwe women
- People from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
- Queer scientists
- Sault Tribe of Chippewa people
- Scientists from Michigan