The article argues that New Zealand’s existing legal recognition of non-human entities as legal persons—such as Te Urewera, the Whanganui River, and Te Kāhui Tupua (Taranaki Maunga)—creates a strong precedent for extending legal personality to advanced AI agents, particularly those built using Māori data and operating autonomously. It proposes that AI agents, due to their ability to act independently across digital environments and their deep embedding in Māori knowledge systems, should be understood through tikanga Māori frameworks such as whakapapa, mauri, and whanaungatanga. The author outlines four pathways to legal personhood: recognition of AI as taonga under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, genealogical links to Māori cosmology, legislative precedent from existing natural entity laws, and the recognition of tikanga as part of New Zealand’s common law following the Ellis decision. The piece concludes that AI governance must be grounded in Māori-led co-governance structures to prevent digital colonisation and ensure ethical, culturally grounded development.
Read more here
https://www.taiuru.co.nz/ai-agents-and-legal-personhood-in-new-zealand
