PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Michael Running Wolf

Michael Running Wolf is an AI researcher who develops language tools with Indigenous communities. By 2019, he held an M.S. in computer science and wrote about machine learning’s growing accessibility for Indigenous nations. He co-authored the 2020 Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper, helped develop speech recognition at Northeastern, and helped launch the Lakota AI Code Camp. He researched Indigenous language AI at SynthBee in 2025 and now leads First Languages AI Reality as its co-founder and lead architect; he was a 2024–25 Tech for Global Good Laureate.

Now at
First Languages AI Reality
Works
9
Citations
132
h-index
2
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2019

    An M.S. and an AI essay

    Raised in a rural Montana village with intermittent water and electricity, he has an M.S. in computer science by February 2019. In his February 2019 essay, he describes machine learning’s growing accessibility for Indigenous nations and how facial-recognition software can monitor environmental activists protecting sacred lands.

  2. 2020

    An Indigenous AI position paper

    He co-authors the 2020 Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper, published by Concordia University.

  3. May 2021

    Hua Ki‘i object-recognition app

    In May 2021, he joins four Indigenous scholars to present the Hua Ki‘i app prototype, which uses object recognition to translate images into Indigenous languages, starting with Hawaiian.

  4. 2021

    Speech recognition at Northeastern

    As a clinical instructor at Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences, he works with a team on automatic speech recognition for Indigenous languages. In October 2021, their system recognizes single, simple words from some languages using hundreds of hours of tribal audio.

  5. 2022

    The Lakota AI Code Camp

    In July 2022, he helps organize the inaugural Lakota AI Code Camp at Black Hills State University. Lakota high-school students learn computer science, AI and machine learning, then build an augmented-reality app that identifies everyday objects and displays their Lakota names.

  6. 2024–2025

    SynthBee researcher and laureate

    In November 2025, he is an AI researcher at SynthBee, focusing on endangered Indigenous languages. He is a 2024–25 Tech for Global Good Laureate.

  7. March–April 2026

    An AI prototype for four communities

    In March–April 2026, his team works with four communities in B.C., the Northwest Territories, Washington state and Brazil to prepare an AI prototype for community evaluation. Its long-term plan immerses users in their language alongside a cultural event, such as a canoe trip.

  8. As of October 2026

    Lead architect of FLAIR

    He is co-founder and lead architect of First Languages AI Reality, which uses AI to reclaim Indigenous languages. In June 2026, he joins a Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis panel titled ‘AI on Indigenous Terms: Considerations for Indian Country.’

Career

  1. NowFirst Languages AI RealityCo-founder and lead architect
  2. 2022Northeastern UniversityClinical instructor
  3. SynthBeeAI researcher

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper2020 · 127 citationsWith Peter-Lucas Jones
  2. Privacy, Safety and Wellbeing: Solutions for the Future of AR and VR2022 · 2 citations
  3. Reigniting the Many Voices of a Communal Bison Hunt in Virtual Reality2017 · 2 citations
  4. Playfully revitalizing languages and traditional knowledge through collaboration2017 · 1 citations
  5. Keynote: "Prospects and Pitfalls in using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for language revitalization" (Part 1)2026 · The Mathematics Enthusiast · 0 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Northeastern University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Northeastern University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Northeastern University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Northeastern University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Michael Running Wolf yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. What does the future look like for AI? indigenous-ai.net. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper researchportalplus.anu.edu.au. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Hua Ki‘i: A Prototype for Developing Ethical Indigenous AI languagesciences.ubc.ca. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Protecting Indigenous Languages Using Automatic Speech Recognition news.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. INDIGENOUS IN AI — LAKOTA LANGUAGE CAMP newmexicohumanities.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Native American Heritage Month in Computing cmd-it.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Indigenous AI Gathering 2026: Meet the Speakers mila.quebec. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. AI can help protect threatened languages — but it can also exploit them canadiangeographic.ca. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Sovereignty in Numbers: The 2026 Center for Indian Country Development Data Summit minneapolisfed.org. Checked 20 October 2026.