Whangaroa man creates Reobot so people can practise speaking Maori

Reobot is a chat robot co-founded by Whangaroa man Jason Lovell so people can use te reo Maori whenever they like. Photo/John Stone

Reobot can ask you where you are from, how you are and even if you would like to go for coffee.

Or more accurately - no hea koe, e pehea ana koe and me haere taua ki te kawhe?

If you want to practise speaking te reo Maori 24/7, Reobot is the artificial intelligence robot for you.

Jason Lovell, the co-founder of the te reo speaking robot, calls Whangaroa home but lives in Auckland.

After spending 13 years living in Australia he returned to New Zealand in 2011 and did a year-long te reo Maori course in 2013, but finding places to practise speaking te reo was difficult.

"What I really found in terms of coming home and wanting to speak Maori, and as a learner myself, it was finding opportunities to practise.

"Getting back up home to korero with my nana particularly was a bit of a challenge when I'm working in Auckland and have three kids."

How to say kia ora to Reobot!

Looking for a way to get started with Reobot? Jason takes you through how to say your name and where you are from. Try it with Reobot, then try it at home!

Posted by Reobot on Friday, 16 February 2018

Reobot is accessible through Facebook messages. You simply send it a message - you can start with kia ora - and take it from there.

It knows lots of phrases helpful for everyday conversation including topics like time, coffee, the weather and more.

Lovell, who is of Ngapuhi ki Whangaroa, Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa, and Ngai Tahu descent, said Reobot was born after he started looking at ways technology could be used to help people practise te reo Maori.

A colleague of his, Jonnie Cain, who is a co-founder of Reobot, went to an artificial intelligence day and was shown some of the technology. They started working on Reobot in late last year and it came to life in February.

"I kind of figured that I'm not alone in wanting to speak Maori and wanting to practise more often. Everybody has a phone so I was looking at how you could get your te reo Maori fix everyday," Lovell said.

Now there are several thousand people who talk to Reobot.

"I think a lot of people are interested in te reo Maori. This is more targeted to the person who is only just starting out learning te reo Maori and hopefully it provides them a bit more opportunity to practise.

"There's a million ways people can try improve and use their reo. Reobot is just another way people might be able to keep it going."

Slow start to the morning? Jason teaches you how to ask someone if they want to go for a coffee with “He kawhe mau”. Jump into Reobot, practice the phrase (and learn how to respond) then try it with your coworkers or friends!

Posted by Reobot on Tuesday, 6 March 2018

Lovell said the next step is to expand Reobot so he knows a wider range of phrases.

To have a korero with Reobot visit www.facebook.com/tereobot