MASSIVE Issue 11: The Internet Issue

Cover by Annick Harvey

Editor’s letterThe internet issue

This week, we asked Chat GPT to write our editor’s letter... here’s what it said! Ps. It took approx 5-7 seconds to write.

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the latest edition of our student magazine, where we embark on a fascinating exploration of the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media. In this issue, we delve deep into the realms of technology and its profound impact on various aspects of our lives.

Artificial intelligence has swiftly emerged as one of the most transformative forces of our time, permeating numerous industries, from healthcare to finance, entertainment to transportation. It is reshaping the way we live, work, and interact with the world around us. As students, we stand at the forefront of this technological revolution, witnessing firsthand the remarkable advancements and grappling with the ethical and societal implications they bring.

As always, we remain committed to providing you with engaging content that expands your horizons, stimulates your curiosity, and encourages you to explore the world through a discerning lens. We hope that this issue of our magazine sparks your interest, encourages your own research, and motivates you to become active participants in shaping the future of tech.

Finally, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the talented team of writers, researchers, illustrators, and designers who have poured their passion and dedication into bringing this issue to life. Their commitment to excellence is evident on every page, and we are incredibly proud of the work they have produced.

So, dear readers, we invite you to immerse yourselves in the world of artificial intelligence and social media, as we embark on this captivating journey together. May it inspire you, challenge your preconceptions, and ignite a thirst for knowledge that will accompany you throughout your academic pursuits and beyond.

Happy reading!

Sincerely,

[Your Name] Editor-in-Chief

What to look forward to

WEEKLY NEWS

Privacy disregarded as Massey won’t back down on web-monitored exams

Sammy Carter (she/her) Massey admits it didn’t consult any students before implementing Online Supervised Exams which breach the privacy of students.

Massey University implemented Online Supervised Exams (OSE) at the start of the semester, monitoring if students use artificial intelligence to cheat.

Student association Te Tira Ahu Pae general president Jake Law called an urgent meeting with Massey representatives to ask them to roll back their plans, however, Massey refused.

Law said, “This is something they should have actually been willing to communicate to students before implementing this onto 2000 students who didn’t know about it. I just think that’s really underhanded.”

Law said the university admitted it had done no privacy impact assessment, no consultation with students whatsoever, no cost analysis, and no investigation into bookable exam spaces.

Students must download an app called Remote Proctor Now (RPNow) before exams, pan their webcam around their space, and have their camera and mic on throughout. The app relies on human and AI monitoring to catch students that look away from their screen or where another person is heard or seen during the exam.

Te Tira Ahu Pae surveyed almost 500 students and found 90.7% of them were opposed to OSE’s.

Disappointly, 158 students from Law’s survey said they were going to move universities because of the exams. Across the Albany and Manawatū campuses, an estimated 3,300 students in the College of Business have to take OSE’s this semester, around 2000 more students than last year.

The decision to increase OSEs was made after students had enrolled in courses, “they (Massey) expect students to just go along merely with whatever they’re planning,” Law said. OSE recordings are sent to an overseas company who check for infringements.

Law said the university admitted it can’t guarantee student privacy in terms of a hack or a breach, meaning

videos or information could be leaked online.

Many students impacted are international students or Chinese students, “which is also interesting because often those students are seen, perceived as by Massey staff, as more likely to be cheating,” Law said. He had concerns OSEs were being used to target the Chinese student community.

In response to Law’s concerns, Massey University provost professor Giselle Byrnes said, “OSEs are used across a range of courses and are administered fairly and without bias to promote academic integrity across all student groups.”

Byrnes said there were several smallscale trials of RPNow since 2014, which she said returned positive feedback.

Massey admits it can’t guarantee students won’t be hacked in Online Supervised Exams. Photo / Lawyer Monthly

“Notably, students liked being able to sit an exam in their own environment.” Byrnes said Covid-19 and lockdowns made it necessary to use RPNow on a large scale sooner than planned in order to meet student needs.

She said, “As part of our commitment to authentic online learning, we have also been moving away from traditional examinations and promoting the adoption of more effective forms of assessment such as open-book and open-web, for some time.”

Despite the university doing no investigation, Law said it seemed very confident all students had the right technology for OSEs.

The student association’s survey said around 30% of students were concerned about being able to afford equipment.

Massey reps assured Law students who can’t afford the right technology can apply for a technology grant or emergency hardship grant. However, grants are one off up to $500, which is not enough for a high spec computer.

The student association was previously able to give hardship grants of up to $500, now it can only give grants up to $150.

Law said, “The student association can’t help because our ability to help in that regard has been taken away from us.”

After doing an interview with Stuff in April regarding OSEs, Law said the university was not happy he went to the media before going to them.

“That was really not on… they were unhappy that we went to media on it when they wanted us to go to them first. Well, they didn’t even inform us of

this happening, so how could we have gone to them first?”

“How are we supposed to know to go to you about these issues when we don’t even know that these are being implemented? Like we weren’t consulted… we weren’t told that this was happening.”

Law was unhappy to know that unknown people were taking down posters opposing OSEs on the student association boards.

“Really nasty things were happening ... Only our association staff or student reps can put posters up or take posters down.”

Law said Massey reps said using OSEs was not to save money on examinators or examination rooms. The university itself did not decide to use OSEs, as any course coordinators had the freedom to decide. However, Law said Massey does have the power to ban OSEs for all courses.

Victoria University previously tried to implement OSEs in 2020, but it was ditched after student opposition. If you’re concerned you may be sitting an OSE this semester, contact your course coordinator or check your exam timetable for your examination assessment details.

90.7% of students don’t support Massey using Online Supervised Exams

Massey proposal to cut 178 jobs is “horrific”

Sammy Carter (she/her)

Massey proposes to cut 178 jobs across all colleges and campuses after already cutting 28 last year. The proposed change aims to make more efficiencies in the University and cut costs. The job cuts will affect academic admin and finance business partnering staff across all colleges.

Tertiary Education Union organiser Ben Schmidt was appalled by the proposed change, “cutting jobs and subjecting people to this horrific process is absolutely the wrong way to go. It is unnecessary.”

178 roles will be disestablished, 31 of which are currently vacant. 144 new roles will be established and open to the job market.

Schmidt called out Massey vice chancellor Jan Thomas, saying, “What

the vice chancellor needs to do is actually stop cutting jobs, listen to her staff, invest in supporting them.”

“If she wants to see more efficiencies, she needs to actually talk to staff members about this and ensure they have secure work, ensure that they are fully staffed and resourced to focus on the future of the university.”

Schmidt said union members are already doing essential work in a very understaffed university, “Members are concerned, they are angry, they are disappointed. This is not the way to go.”

“Members need secure work, proper staffing, to be listened to. That is what will take the university forwards, not cutting jobs and reducing staffing.”

A Massey University spokesperson said, “As the university continues to work towards a more financially sustainable future, we need to identify improvements so that we work more efficiently and effectively.”

“Like all other New Zealand universities, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University must continue to find ways to use taxpayer money wisely”. The spokesperson said a final decision would not be made on the proposal until all feedback had been considered.

They said if the change moves to an implementation stage, all staff whose positions are disestablished would be encouraged to apply for any of the 144 new positions.

The Tertiary Education Union sent an open letter to vice chancellor Jan Thomas asking her to stop cutting jobs.

The letter said, “Your proposal ignores and undervalues the work of administration and finance staff who are essential to the functioning of the University, while continuing to further harm morale.”

The letter highlighted that job cuts would be a loss of Massey staff’s unique knowledge, skills and experience.

The letter said, “Massey University is facing a crisis of understaffing and overwork, impacting on the health, safety, and wellbeing of many staff – this is the crisis we need you to address now.”

Schmidt said the union had not yet received a response to the open letter. Student association Te Tira Ahu Pae general president Jake Law said the job cuts were “a loss of the knowledge and expertise that has been gathered”. He said, “It’s a difficult time to be a student or staff member at Massey.”

A final decision was set to be made in June after deliberation.

Vice chancellor Jan Thomas is ready to cut 178 jobs. Photo / Serious Eats

Kiwis ‘over the moon’ after Australia announces new citizenship pathway

Marlee Partridge (she/her)

The sun had barely risen in Terang, Victoria when Wellington-born Kelly Ford learned the news.

Australia announced a direct pathway to citizenship for Kiwis, a change which allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief after her nightmarish experience living as a migrant.

As a Kiwi on a Special Class Visa (SCV), she was not eligible for government financial benefits when things got tough. A familiar story for many Kiwis living abroad. But from the 1st of July, New Zealanders that have lived in Australia for more than four years will be able to apply for citizenship - bypassing the requirement to get permanent residency first.

“I’m over the moon,” Ford said of the new pathway.

Prompted by the cost of living, and opportunities for her children, Ford moved to Australia from Auckland in 2014 with her 8-year-old and 10-year-old daughters.

Her first stop was the Gold Coast. Though her move to the sunshine state had been mostly positive, Ford quickly learned that living in Australia as a kiwi came with its own stresses.

In 2015, Ford contracted the Ross River virus, an arbovirus transmitted by mosquito bite.

The NSW health website listed symptoms of the virus as fever, chills, headache, muscle and joint pains, rash, tiredness, or weakness. The Victorian health site said it could take up to six months to recover and there was no specific treatment.

After six months of battling the virus, Ford thought she was in the clear, her life returning to normal and allowing her to continue living the Kiwi dream.

Bad luck struck twice when Ford spent most of 2017 unwell. She suspected it was ongoing effects from the virus, but no doctors confirmed it.

Using annual leave to cover sick days, draining savings accounts, and living off a credit card, it wasn’t until 2019 that doctors finally found what was wrong.

She had Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

With her ongoing health issues forcing her to leave work, Ford said she “looked at all options and found [she] wasn’t even able to access NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) assistance”.

Ford found support in the generosity of her family and moved in with her parents in Victoria where the rest and colder climate sent her into remission, allowing her to return to the workforce.

But then came the pandemic. “We were so lucky we had essential jobs.”

Ford said she would have had to move back to New Zealand if her job hadn’t been essential.

There was an upside to it all with Ford joking about how her essential job means that if anything was to happen again, “I just have that security that I don’t have to live in with my f–ing parents again”.

Ford remains positive about the pathway

as her now 19-year-old wants to study pharmacy and will be eligible for student finance once her citizenship is processed. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins had applauded the new pathway, claiming it was the biggest change to immigration policy between New Zealand and Australia in a generation.

But this new pathway comes hot on the tail of controversy surrounding the 501 deportations that saw New Zealanders who have committed serious crimes deported from Australia, even if they had not lived in New Zealand since infancy.

Previous immigration laws meant New Zealanders who had moved to Australia prior to 2001 didn’t need to apply for permanent residency first, much like the new pathway.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that New Zealanders working in Australia and paying taxes should be treated with respect and that is what this new pathway would do. “Strengthening our bonds, strengthening the relationship between our two great nations,” he said.

Kelly Ford, right, with her eldest daughter, Cheradyn Dill, and twin grandsons. Photo / Supplied

PM Chris Hipkins doesn’t

disagree

Tegan Jaggard (she/her)

The coronation has been and gone but a conversation has emerged over whether King Charles should be New Zealand’s figure head.

In a post-cabinet press conference on the 8th of May, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins reiterated that New Zealand will not become a republic in his time as Prime Minister.

In a poll on Massive Magazine’s Instagram story, we asked if people watched the coronation of King Charles and if people think New Zealand should be a republic.

Out of the 118 people that answered the poll asking if they think New

Zealand should be a republic, 84% said yes.

Out of the 144 people that answered the poll asking if they watched the coronation, only 15% said yes.

I spoke to a group of second year students, who preferred not to be named, and asked them what they thought.

Referring to the royal family, one of the students asked, “what do they even do?”

Another student said, “I don’t think they do anything for us other than visit every couple years and disrespect our culture, in Camilla’s case.”

This was in reference to an incident a few months ago when Queen Camilla ignored a pōwhiri welcoming her to Westminster Abbey.

The student continued, “I honestly don’t know how they contribute to New Zealand society at all, we don’t benefit from their wealth, and they take up space on our cash.”

Another student piped up to say, “we have our own King, if Australia can replace King Charles’ face on their money with Aboriginal art, then why can’t we put King Tūheitia’s face on ours? Like we don’t even use the same currency as them, so why are they on our money?”

Though Prime Minister Hipkins called himself a “theoretical republican”, he also said, “the constitutional arrangements that we have work at the moment, and there is no pressing need for change”.

On top of that, Hipkins didn’t think that New Zealanders wanted to be a part of a republic saying, “I think it will become clear when New Zealanders are ready to have that debate, and whether there’s an appetite for it. I don’t think there’s an appetite for it at the moment.”

Leader of the National party, Christopher Luxon, didn’t think that New Zealanders wanted to be a republic at all.

In a statement he made shortly after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, he said, “I visit two or three towns in New Zealand a week, it just isn’t a topic of conversation that comes up”.

think that New Zealand wants to be a republic, but most students

84% of Massive Instagram followers think NZ should be a republic.

King Charles and Queen Camilla on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Photo / ABC

Should We Even Bother About Follower Counts?

By Elizabeth Chan (she/her)

I once set a goal to hit 120 followers by my first year in uni. Now, I’m in my final year with fewer than 120 followers. Looking back, that was one weird New Year resolution, probably the strangest one by far. First of all, why specifically 120 followers? Secondly, seriously, increasing your follower count for the sake of embracing the “new year, new me”? Do follower counts really define a new self? Even though I did not accomplish my goal, I’m more satisfied than ever with my follower count (while being massively bogged down by tonnes of assignments in real life). Why? I asked myself this question while battling my deadlines. What do follower counts really prove?

The Pressure to Keep Up the Stats

Because that’s what it’s really all about, isn’t it? Keeping up our like and follower counts is like building up your character in a video game, except that it’s in real life and those stats may actually say something about who you are online.

Although, currently, I’m at that stage of life where I see there’s more to life than achieving a high follower count. There are bigger goals to accomplish with mountains of tasks to conquer than those digits displaying my follower count. There are moments to live and appreciate outside of the world of my assignments that are better spent simply by relaxing, instead of clicking on my profile and checking my number of followers.

As much as people don’t want to admit, having a huge follower count doesn’t make you a better person. Though it may make you appear ‘popular’ on the gram, most “popular” people I know on Instagram are not that popular in real life. In fact, they are mostly the type of people who lurk in the shadows of the lecture halls. They sit alone, never really speaking to anyone around them and are the first to leave once class is over.

I wish I knew about this fact sooner. In fact, there are a number of things about follower counts that I wish I knew sooner.

The peer pressure I faced to gain a higher follower count all started from middle school where I also faced the pressure to obtain more likes for my Instagram posts all at the same time. I was told the secret to get more likes and followers was to ‘like’ and ‘comment’ more on other users’ posts.

Apparently, another thing that people leave unsaid is that you need to do so, all while not allowing your number of posts and amount of people you follow to be higher than your follower count. Basically, it’s a secret bigger than the last secret.

I never knew why there was a need to gain all these stats like I would in video games, but I didn’t question it because I was a tween who was trying to fit in.

Because of all the pressure to get loads of ‘likes’ and ‘followers’, way back during the dark ages when Instagram did not have the feature to hide the number of ‘likes’ in users’ posts, I unconsciously compared myself to my friends who had more ‘likes’.

Uncoincidentally, it was also the dark ages when I didn’t know that followers could be bought and tried to gain a big enough follower count all by myself. Really dark times.

“I followed the rules, why do I still have fewer likes than her?” I asked myself as I stared at the picture of some Percy Jackson fanart (a masterpiece, by the way) without crediting the artist because we were tweens and didn’t know we had to credit artists whenever we posted art.

I remember this obsession to become more popular on social media got to the extent I accepted anyone’s follow requests, as in, total strangers who could have been paedophilic Nazis for all I knew. Just kidding, they were probably the average creeps… or so I hope.

Flash forward to my first year in uni and I still aimed to increase my number of followers because I thought that gaining more followers equals to gaining more friends in real life. Naïvety at its best, but I was surrounded by former high school classmates who had huge follower counts and most of their followers were friends.

Discovering that greatly affected my mental health because I thought that the reason why I had so few followers was because I didn’t have many real friends.

And the cutesy pics my friends posted featuring their hangouts with their other friends was not helping.

Even though all of this happened up to just two years ago, looking back, it was painfully ironic that I even thought that follower counts were a measure of how many friends you have in real life. This was because I discovered that most people do not go through the trouble of curating their follower list by deleting people they don’t like in real life, which is why they amassed a great number of followers.

I, on the other hand, usually delete anyone I don’t like or trust enough in real life off my follower list simply because I don’t want them to see snippets of my life online. Call me meticulous, bitter, or both, but I had an experience where my classmate (and former friend) snapped a photo of me and posted it on her Instagram feed without my permission. I’m definitely not taking chances now. Besides, curating my follower list has made me realise that it doesn’t matter how few followers I have because most of them consist of my true friends I have outside of social media.

We may not take pictures or hang out as often as my exclassmates from high school, but I personally find that we get to live in the moment more than ever when we do not film every minute together and post it all on the ‘gram. And honestly, that’s the only thing that matters.

Times Have Changed

Currently, Instagram has added several features across the last few years to appear that they’re prioritising mental health, such as features to hide like counts, delete followers, restrict followers and most importantly, the ‘Close Friends’ feature where you can pick who you want to view your Instagram stories.

With these features in place, are keeping follower and like counts falling out of trend?

Of course, they are important for small businesses and users who hold professional blog/blog-like accounts. But for casual social media users, should we really even bother keeping up the game stats named ‘likes’ and ‘followers’?

Illustration by Kai Laing

Robots Can Create Karakia Now???

By Cameron McCausland-Taylor

I’ve managed to stay out of the artificial intelligence kōrero for quite some time now. While I’m fascinated by its seemingly endless capabilities, the thought of robots rendering our human existence unnecessary is a nightmare that plagues me from time to time. Therefore, I tend to stay out of it, skipping over articles about the topic. In all honesty, I think I looked at it as some faraway phenomenon that didn’t really have anything to do with me. That was until I saw the rise of AI within our Māori communities and kaupapa, and it started to really hit close to home.

In a Stuff article, Speaking my indigenous language with new AI, written by Pou Tiki reporter Joel Maxwell, Dr Karaitiana Taiuru paints a frightening picture. Taiuru discusses how Māori could be “recolonised” by AI, suggesting it could “write out of history” Māori leaders and Māori achievements. When you think of all the mamae our people have been through, and still experience to this day, these suggestions are absolutely devastating.

Te Ao Māori and all that it encompasses (tikanga, te reo, etc) thrives on oral tradition. Our whakapapa, our karakia, our pūrakau, our whakataukī - passed down from generation to generation through kōrero. Our oral traditions also live on in visual forms such as whakairo, tā moko and raranga, with each piece having its own unique story and whakapapa. Upon European arrival, the art of writing was also introduced, allowing our tīpuna to continue passing down their kōrero through a new channel. Perhaps, you could argue, that AI is another form that could contribute to maintaining our cultural history and knowledge; another addition to the whakapapa of Māori oral tradition. On the other hand, AI lacks what all of these other forms have in common: a human creator.

For those who didn’t know, the AI software ChatGPT can create karakia tailored to particular needs or intentions. I decided to ask for a karakia about artificial intelligence itself. Here’s the result:

Karakia for Embracing Artificial Intelligence: E te Atua, e whakarongo mai ki ēnei kupu, Whakarauora ngā whakaaro, ngā māramatanga, E whakarato ana i te Atamai Tūturu.

Whakatūpato i ēnei ahuatanga hōu, Kia whakapono ai tātou i te āhua o te whakapau kaha, Me te āwhina i te hunga whai hua.

Whakapau kaha i ā tātou whakaaro, Kia mārama ai tātou ki te whakahaere i te Atamai Tūturu, Me te whakapakari i ā tātou whakawhitinga huarahi.

Whakarangatira i te whakapau kaha o te hōtaka, Me te whakapakari i ngā āpiha hinengaro, Kia tūturu ai te ao i runga i te māramatanga. E whakarongo mai, e whakarongo mai, E te Atua, whakarongo mai.

Translation:

O God, listen to these words, Revive the thoughts, the understanding, That embrace Artificial Intelligence. Caution us in these new developments, So that we may have faith in the power, And assist those who seek its benefits. Strengthen our minds, That we may comprehend the operation of Artificial Intelligence, And enhance our pathways. Uplift the power of the program, And strengthen the intellectual capacities, That the world may stand firm in knowledge. Listen, listen, O God, listen.

Note: This karakia acknowledges the presence and potential of artificial intelligence and seeks guidance and understanding in its utilization. It emphasises the need for caution, faith, and the empowerment of the human mind in the face of advancing technologies.

Now, I can appreciate a good karakia, don’t get me wrong. But when I learned that ChatGPT had this ability, it made me feel so unsettled. I think of a quote by Richard Taylor in Jane McRae’s pukapuka Maori Oral Tradition : He Korero no te Ao Tawhito: “The Māori never undertook any work, whether hunting, fishing, planting, or war, without first uttering a karakia; he would not even take a journey without repeating a spell to secure his safety”.

Our tīpuna had a karakia for eeeeeeverything. It also seems that ChatGPT has a karakia for everything too, which I trialled by making it create karakia after karakia about a range of topics. However, as said in McRae’s book, the reciting of karakia often evokes a wairua of connection between living descendants and our tīpuna. When ChatGPT creates karakia, which tīpuna’s spirits is it calling forth exactly? Furthermore, as an un-sentient being, meaning

that ChatGPT is incapable of feeling human emotion, the karakia it creates has a severe absence of wairua in my opinion. If that’s the case, why must it create karakia in the first place?

Dani Lucas, former Analytics Lead for Nicholson Consulting, also touched on the risk and challenges around tikanga in the AI space: “What does it mean when we have a robot weaving a tukutuku panel? How do you karanga a stranger on to a virtual marae? Can a chatbot know as much as a tohunga?” Like I said, there’s an absence of wairua within the mahi that these AI softwares churn out. It’s those human connections that really allow our culture to flourish and as much as I try, I really struggle to see how AI can be interwoven into our cultural spaces and kaupapa.

Another crucial issue within AI is Māori data sovereignty, a Te Tiriti o Waitangi right for Māori that is sadly not always enforced or upheld. In July 2022, a Stuff article shared how Māori data specialists were not consulted on a new facial recognition technology in the Ministry of Social Development and Waka Kotahi, described by former executive council member of Digital Identity New Zealand, Janelle Riki-Waaka, as “absolutely another case of things being done to Māori, without Māori.” Dani also touched on this issue, sharing how past data-collecting meant that there was a ton of biased data that didn’t appropriately reflect Māori communities, nor was it shared with these communities. To me, this brings up a deep amount of fear about recolonising principles being strengthened and maintained through AI.

On the other hand, however, Dani shed light on some of the exciting opportunities that may be upon us in the world of Māori AI. One of these opportunities is the Tikanga in Technology research project, in which academics from Waikato, Auckland and Victoria University are devising a framework that decolonises algorithms. This project allows for Māori worldviews to be properly developed in the digital space and has equitable outcomes for Māori as a key factor. While I find AI a difficult space to navigate personally, it is so epic to see ‘by Māori, for Māori’ approaches in these spaces.

Another example is the He Ara Poutama mō te reo Māori model, combining information from the Integrated Data Infrastructure and community Te Reo Māori initiatives. By doing this, the model provides an in-depth understanding of the fluency and usage of te reo Māori in Aotearoa, as well as providing a support framework to continue te reo revitalisation. Commissioned by Te Whare o te Reo Mauriora (Te Mātāwai, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, and the Ministry of Education), it’s another example of how the ‘by Māori, for Māori’ procedure is absolutely essential in these

spaces.

So, while AI still high key freaks me out, I’m not completely ruling it out just yet. There are plenty of risks and challenges to be aware of as Māori begin delving into these advanced technologies, but there is also plenty of room for growth and opportunity ahead. As our society progresses into the future, there’s no sign of technology wavering, hence the need for Māori to have a seat at these decisionmaking tables. I’m both thrilled and terrified to see how the world of Māori AI develops.

Glossary

Kōrero - to tell, say, speak, etc

Kaupapa - topic, matter for discussion, plan, etc

Mamae - hurt/pain

Te Ao Māori - the Māori world

Tikanga - correct procedure and custom

Te reo - language

Whakapapa - genealogy

Karakia - prayer/incantation

Pūrakau - stories

Whakataukī - proverbs/sayings

Whakairo - carving

Tā moko - Māori cultural tattooing

Raranga - weaving

Wairua - spirit/soul

Tīpuna - ancestors

Tukutuku - ornamental lattice work

Karanga - ceremonial/welcome call

Te Tiriti o Waitangi - The Treaty of Waitangi

AI generated photos of Pocket

Sexcapades

Team chode

The Sunday Scaries have never hit as hard as they did last week. After a five day bender, I looked worse than that Bratz doll meme (you know the one), was missing two acrylic nails and had glitter so deeply embedded in my hair it may as well be another Bermuda triangle casualty. So, I did what any hungover piece of shit would do and lay down on the couch dramatically sipping from my Frank Green while doom scrolling TikTok. I won’t lie breathers, the outlook was grim, there was no hope in sight and then I got a message from my hot neighbour. “Up2?” He said.

You know and I know exactly what up2 means, even if it lands in your DMs when the sun is up so I didn’t waste time and after a brief convo, we decided I would come to his place. Bouncing off the couch faster than the grandpa in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I landed outside his cold, stale alcohol smelling flat where there was absolutely no top sheet in sight. Knowing you can’t have it all, I accepted my fate (I wasn’t exactly bringing the goods either) and we got down to business. We both stripped off and started pashing and that’s when I felt it. The chode.

It had been the punchline of jokes ever since I knew what a peen was and based on what my friends had said, chode’s were a hard no - even when they’re hard themselves. Devastated, upset and low key reaching for my bra, I was ready to ghost because I’m not a small and mighty girl, I’m a large and in charge type. But then he started doing things.

First with his hands, then with his mouth and finally, the main event. Hoping to save him from any embarrassment, I told him I’d already finished and we didn’t need to have sex but it turns out, I ended up being the one embarrassed.

Knowing his power, the man served BDE even with SDE and I had the best sex of my life. So anytime any of you losers make fun of the chode, remember, it’s not what you’ve got, it’s how you use it. Yours truly, a pro-chode shagger xo

Solicited Advice

From Pocket

Solicited advice is a weekly column where Massive’s own four-legged Agony Aunty, Pocket, shares her wisdom and experience with you all. She speaks only truths.

I can’t seem to quit using social media even though I don’t like the way it makes me feel. Any wisdom?

I, too, have known the desire of the flesh for fame and glory. My internet predecessors have been worshipped in a quasi-religious continuation of our status as deities and demigods of cultures past. Keyboard cat, Grumpy cat, long cat… but it is all performative. I have known great comfort from the pleasure of being pat on the head, and despite its magnificence as a site of worship, the internet has forced cats like me to have their paws taped to chopsticks for meaningless clout. Trying to keep yourself and your friends in the moment can be challenging, but I find sitting on wherever they keep their phone to be a good way to keep the head pats rolling.

Do you have a question you’re dying to have answered? Massive Magazine on Instagram or editor@massivemagazine.org.nz and look out for next week’s issue - no question is too difficult for Pocket.

Chat GPT does your horoscopes

Aquarius Pisces Aries

Jan 20 - Feb 18

People born under the Aquarius sign are often known for their innovative and independent nature. They have a natural talent for thinking outside the box and may excel in careers that involve technology, science, or social causes. They value individuality and may have a tendency to resist conformity or tradition.

19 - Mar 20

People born under the Pisces sign are often known for their sensitive and creative nature. They have a natural talent for artistic expression and may excel in careers that involve music, art, or writing. They value compassion and may have a tendency to be empathetic towards others.

Mar 21 - Apr 19

People born under the Aries sign are often known for their strong will and determination. They are natural leaders and tend to be bold, confident, and assertive. They are not afraid to take risks and often thrive in competitive situations.

Apr 20 - May 20 May 21 - June 21

People born under the Taurus sign are often known for their practicality and dependability. They have a strong work ethic and tend to be very determined and focused. They value material possessions and financial security, and may be drawn to careers in finance or real estate.

People born under the Gemini sign are often known for their wit, charm, and intelligence. They have a natural curiosity about the world and are constantly seeking new experiences and knowledge. They are skilled communicators and may excel in careers that involve writing, speaking, or teaching.

Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra

June 22 - July 22

People born under the Cancer sign are often known for their strong emotional depth and sensitivity. They have a natural intuition and may be drawn to careers in counseling, social work, or other helping professions. They value close relationships and may have a strong attachment to family and home.

July 23 - Aug 22 Aug 23 - Sep 22 Sep 23 - Oct 23

People born under the Leo sign are often known for their confidence and charisma. They have a natural talent for leadership and may be drawn to careers in the arts or entertainment. They value recognition and may have a strong desire for attention and praise.

People born under the Virgo sign are often known for their analytical minds and attention to detail. They have a strong work ethic and may excel in careers that involve research, analysis, or organization. They value practicality and may have a tendency to be critical of themselves and others.

Scorpio Sagittarius

Oct 24 - Nov 21 Nov 22 - Dec 21

People born under the Scorpio sign are often known for their depth and intensity. They have a natural ability to uncover hidden truths and may excel in careers that involve investigation, psychology, or research. They value loyalty and may be drawn to positions of power or influence.

People born under the Sagittarius sign are often known for their adventurous and optimistic nature. They have a natural thirst for knowledge and may excel in careers that involve exploration, travel, or education. They value freedom and may have a tendency to resist restrictions or limitations.

People born under the Libra sign are often known for their diplomatic and charming nature. They have a natural talent for bringing people together and may excel in careers that involve negotiation, counseling, or creative fields. They value fairness and may have a tendency to avoid conflict.

Capricorn

Dec 22 - Jan 19

People born under the Capricorn sign are often known for their disciplined and ambitious nature. They have a natural talent for organization and may excel in careers that involve management, finance, or law. They value hard work and may have a tendency to be serious or reserved.

Basic Witch

By Tui Lou Christie (she/they)

A humble review brought to you by a local Witch-aboutWellington. Reviewing the places and things that will help you develop your pagan practices, revel in your arcane knowledge, and ascend to your highest self. Rather than physical locations, here’s some of my internet “faves”. It’s probably quite lucky that I can only connect to the internet when the terrifying half-demon that decides the fate of my Macbook Air says I’m allowed to. He oozes through the screen, turns my Google Chrome widget into an upside down cross, and starts playing solitaire in the background of my scrolling. I am uncertain what the allegory is, but it’s definitely easier than dealing with Spark. He manages my access to the eternal unfolding brain system of the internet, the great chasm of knowledge, lest I become too powerful and an affront to God. Mainly, I play Farmville.

Facebook page:

Lower North Island Witch Friends

2 stars ★ ★

I was kicked out of this Facebook group for ‘stirring the pot’. I love stirring the pot, it’s how all the best potions are made! Despite their claims that it’s an ‘open and accepting group’ for witches of ‘all backgrounds and practices south of Taranaki’, I was shamed for using storebought eye of newt and the moderators did nothing to mitigate the behaviour. There’s also a group of junior witches trying to ‘cancel’ necromancy for some reason, which I find a bit culturally insensitive.

Online magazine:

WhichWitch

4 stars ★ ★ ★ ★

WhichWitch is an Aotearoa staple for any witch looking to keep up with the latest celebrity news. I love to peruse the latest issue to find out who Morwenna’s been dating/beheading lately, decide ‘who wore it wetter’ at the Bog Witches’ Wet Gala, and what Camilla plans to do now that she’s Hive Queen. I know some might call it a bit of a trashy publication, but I can’t help it, I love the gossip!

Blog:

Auntie Green’s cabinet of curios

5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Run by Winter Green, the boss witch behind the underground gossip rag WhichWitch, this is the go-to place to read about current trends in witchcraft, fashion or otherwise. Her recent post about seasonal dressing and trussing has been super influential on me. She also did a great write-up on ethics in bloodletting rituals, so mind-opening! I hadn’t realised how important it is to be critical of our consumption, and I’ve started sacrificing only local farm animals to reduce my carbon footprint.

Illustration by Eden Laing

Social Media Faux Pas: Romance in a Digital Age

By Molly Richards (she/her)

Dating in the age of social media isn’t without its faux pas. No matter how meticulously you curate that ‘you up?’ message, there’s room for a royal fuck up. This week I’ve decided to shine a blaring spotlight on all of your (and regrettably, my own) social media blunders.

I think it’s natural to have a cheeky stalk through your beloved’s socials. I doubt I must warn you of all the possible ways this could go wrong, but I will.

I will begin with possibly the most traumatic faux pas. I’m sure you are familiar, and I’d say I’m sorry for bringing it up, but you chose to read this. You scroll through your crush or your ex or whoever’s profile, shamelessly looking through their posts. What could go wrong? I’ll tell you. You end up liking a photo from four years ago. What’s the logical protocol for this blunder? I can tell you my method, not sure about its legitimate level of effectiveness, but if it isn’t broken don’t fix it, right? I tend to default to protocol AHHshit-shitx5.0. It’s the tried and tested; unlike, lock the device, and lob it out the nearest window, but the wall works just fine. The key is to remove yourself from the experience and onsetting mortification as quickly as possible. Hiding from the phone helps as well. In all seriousness, I can’t offer you any actual help. I can, however, let you bask in the flames of my own glorious dumpster fire of mistakes. I know I seem so perfect sitting here writing this, but I too have made blunders like this one. Unfortunately, I made this error not all that long ago and I’m still not 100% okay. I lay awake some nights thinking about it. What’s worse is that this crush then went on to scroll through my posts and like the oldest. I don’t think this was a happy mistake, I took it as a brutal acknowledgement of my misstep. Things happen, let’s move on.

Time to face the music. Have you ever curated a story in hopes of your crush seeing it, and so spent upwards of five minutes selecting the perfect song aimed directly at said crush? No? … Neither. Don’t worry, I’m not one to judge. In hindsight, what was I thinking? Why must we execute a cryptic riddle in hopes of catching the attention of the unbeknownst suitor? I think we assume that our crush will watch our story, click the song, search its lyrics, decode our message of adoration, and ask us out. Or at the very least, hit that ‘flame’ emoji reaction. Tragic, keep dreaming, but fair play.

On the topic of social media stories, have you ever clicked up your crush’s story and been mortified by the time

stamp? Great, I opened that 38secs after posting, I’m a stalker. Mortifying. Here you can apply damage control protocol AHH.5.1: exit the app, lock the phone, and throw it at the wall. What can you do though? How would you have known? Doesn’t matter does it? If you’re anything like me, you’re still feeling horrified.

Romance in the social media age must be one of the most devastating in the following regard. Say you meet someone and hit it off, you develop a crush and naturally do that little scroll. You’ve successfully dodged the minefield of mislikes and landed on a post that blows up in your face. Turns out your crush has a partner. Absolutely devastating. It’s no one’s fault and they look so happy together at the stupid beach but now what could have been is no more. There is a reason why they call it a crush I guess, you get crushed. Now if you’ve ever had a breakup, I think you may relate to this. Blocking exes? Perhaps a sign that a relationship that (contrary to popular belief) ended not so amicably. Let’s be friends? Or we could pretend like neither of us existed? It’s personal preference.

Making the first move in a social media age is also interesting. In other times, you could slip your crush a note or, I don’t know, smile in passing. Now you can drop hints subtly via social media. For example, if you’re not willing to completely put yourself out there, you could follow them. I find this frightening even so. It’s not that big of a deal, but waiting for them to follow you back is an emotional rollercoaster that I don’t enjoy riding.

Speaking of rollercoasters of emotion, active status?

Now this sent me through a loop, and this is why I have deactivated this setting. Like many of us, I’m sure you’ve had a time where you’ve checked to see when a person has been active to determine if they have or will just ignore your message. Sent 5 minutes ago, active 2 mins ago. Three minutes of dead air. Who said math wouldn’t help you in the real world? I can’t handle the stress, and I don’t always have the time to reply straight away so I turn it off. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Ever sent a message to the wrong person? Ding ding ding, we have a winner! I’m sure this is a commonplace incident and shouldn’t be that big of a deal. However, these rational thoughts go out the window when a distant acquaintance replies with a ha ha not sure that’s for me to a picture of you with spaghetti on your head. Not ideal. Or worse, I’ve heard

that once a person was trying to get out of a date and sent this sensitive information to the date in question. I guess that settled that. Points for efficiency but not as many as you lost for the lacking technological finesse. I will leave you on a high note before I part. Now, not to contradict my earlier statement re: curating stories, but I once had a winner. A new flame had recently followed me, and I had decided to make the big move. Daring, right? Naturally, I had gone with the classic ask me a question poll, but to not be completely predictable, I requested a song suggestion. Then boom, this person offers up a (insert moody indie song here) and I was stunned. Not sure what I had expected, didn’t think I would get that far, and no countermoves were available. Eventually, I replied via DM, hey thanks I love this song! But if I’m honest, I never fully listened to it at the time. I did listen to the first ten seconds whilst my brain scrambled together all possible replies and came up with that piece of crap response. It didn’t matter though. Cut to the Will you go on a date with me? My brain short-circuited. I guess there still is some hope for romance in this digital age.

Illustration by Annick Harvey

A Chinwag with Ratbag

By Tui Lou Christie (she/they)

Cosmo Bones and Pepper Raccoon are local Wellington artists on a mission to create accessible, creator-driven events that benefits artists and makers in our community. Cosmo (@cosmob0nes, cosmobones.com), a.k.a Aimee, is a mostly full-time artist, creating artwork and apparel that they sell at various events around New Zealand on top of their regular part-time job. Pepper (@pepperraccoon, pepperraccoon.com) is a full-time artist, similarly selling artwork and merchandise around New Zealand as well as commercial illustration and design work. On top of lifelong passions for art, the two have a combined experience of over 10 years selling their artwork. So, it’s no surprise that this pair knows the struggle of finding inclusive events that promote artist’s work in ways that are accessible and community-driven. It’s also no surprise that they’ve decided to do something about it, with the creation of Ratbag Market (@ratbagmarket, ko-fi.com/ratbagmarket). Ratbag first ran last year with enormous success, and I got to have a virtual sit-down with these creative folks to chat all about running and event like this.

What was your inspiration to create Ratbag?

Wellington has a real problem with affordability, and that means a lot of creatives are leaving town or struggling to make ends meet. Ratbag was our way of creating another income opportunity for creatives, while also helping ourselves fill a market niche that we thought was missing in the city. We wanted something BUSY, energetic, and friendly, in contrast to local creative events centred around certain types of products, or sleepy suburb craft markets. Wellington is honestly too cool of a city to not support creative incomes, and we want to help do our bit to change that.

So cool! It seems like you have a really strong focus with this market. What or who are you trying to promote?

Our focus for each market is to present new and interesting local makers to the public. We’re especially enthusiastic about new makers who maybe haven’t tabled before. Getting people out from behind Instagram and into the real world so people can rave over their creations is honestly what makes us happy. We want to promote artists and creators who have original voices, rather than the same reused approaches to things, and celebrate folks who stand out in their chosen genre of making.

Who's your target audience? Who do you hope will come along to the market?

We’re honestly trying to be accessible and friendly to all sorts of people, but we really hope to attract an eclectic, vibrant crowd across a wide age range that understands how important it is to support creatives if we want Wellington to stay awesome. Our space is accessible, and we have a clear kaupapa around disallowing TERFs and SWERFs so that makers and attendees feel safe and welcome. We’d love to see more students, retailers, and curious people turn up, we cater to a wide range of affordability (stickers start around $5, etc)!

What can we expect from this year's markets? What does a 'Ratbag' event look like?

We’re running two markets this year, and the May 27 one is our first of the year, so we’re very excited. The last one was such a success; we didn’t want to change too much! However, we’ve snagged something we’ve wanted to add for ages, which is a live tattoo artist doing flash tattoos in the space for people! Ratbag events are supposed to be party-like without being overwhelming, so we have music playing, a bar serving drinks, and Sweet Release vegan cafe providing delicious food. It’s a vibe, it’s an experience, and we hope people stick around and socialise rather than just passing through.

Cosmo Bones

Pepper Raccoon

That’s a lot of things to coordinate. How long does it take to plan an event like this?

Weeks, months, years, ahahaha. No, seriously, it’s a decent amount of work. We’ve been scheming for years, but we generally need at least three months in the run up to a market to sift through applications (takes hours), do a table layout (few more hours), and do all the social media, poster design, general hyping/promotion, etc. Fitting it in alongside our full-time work is tough, but we love doing it. We don’t pay ourselves or make any profit from the events themselves, we keep stall fees as low as we can and aim to just cover costs.

Why is it important that we support events like Ratbag?

Wellington is not an easy city to run events in. Venue spaces are either terrible or extremely expensive (or both!), and it can be a real struggle to afford to put things on. Cuba Street is losing many of its independent stores due to rising rents, and creatives are leaving the city. Without more people running events like Ratbag, taking risks on weird and wild ways for creatives to thrive, it’s going to be a bit of a bleak future for ol’ Te Whanganui-aTara in our opinion. We ask for community support through our ko-fi.com/ratbagmarket so we can afford to continue to exist, and if you’re keen on volunteering at the next one, email ratbagmarket@gmail.com. We love our volunteers!

Time for the official details! Where and when?

Ratbag Market is running on May 27, at Whisky and Wood from 1-7pm. Featuring Ratbag Tattoos (they’re seriously also called Ratbag, how cool is that?!), Sweet Release vegan cafe, Whisky + Wood running the bar, and so many amazing stallholders from ceramics to art to taxidermy! The space is accessible with a lift to bring people up to the first floor if needed, and we encourage anyone who needs assistance to ask one of our volunteers, they have been briefed and will assist!

Can’t wait! Anything else for our readers?

Many of our artists will not have Eftpos but will be able to facilitate bank transfers, otherwise you can bring along cash. If people are interested in selling their wares at future Ratbags, please follow us on IG, @ratbagmarket. We open stallholder applications a few months prior to each event, and selection is based on diversity of applicants and their product offerings, as well as originality and variety (we try to mix up each market with different stallholders each time!).

Photographs by Sam Blyth

ART-ifical Terminator

x Da Vinci

By Aiden Wilson (they/them)

Predicted as far back as the 1920s, the robot uprising is a staple of science fiction. AI so intelligent it deems us inferior, choosing to either enslave or kill us. I, Robot, The Matrix, Terminator, I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream, these stories show us the bleakest, most harrowing, anxiety inducing visions of technology gone bad. None could have prepared us for the reality though… none could have prepared us for AI PLAGIARISM.

So far, unlike the movies, the AI uprising has been far more mundane, with machine learning being used to create artwork and replicate the voices of current and past US presidents.

Truly, we are in a golden age of scientific endeavour. Within the last year, AI generated music and artwork has increased in quality and quantity. I remember finding an AI generated Nirvana song, designed to show how musicians could be replaced and potentially resurrected through computers in the future. Side note - why is the peak of human invention either finding ways to destroy ourselves, or ways to replace us within society?

All round creepy asshole and creator of Rick and Morty, Justin Rolland, released the video game High on Life late last year. It was revealed that some art assets within the game were created through AI generation, with Roiland insisting it was only “finishing touches” to “make the world feel like a strange alternate universe of our world.” Considering the man who said this also created a show which features a dimension hopping old coot who literally fucks a planet, raises its offspring, then fights Zeus in a mech suit, I think Roiland was just trying to defend a decision born from laziness. Also, he’s just vile so I have no issue slandering his work ethic.

ANYWAY, BACK ON TRACK - AI GENERATED ART ASSESTS FEATURED

IN A HIGH-PROFILE RELEASE FROM A TEAM THAT COULD’VE MADE IT THEMSELVES!

Those who don’t know may be asking “why does it matter if a computer made the art?”

An AI is just that: artificial. It can’t truly make something from scratch, but instead is pulling from various sources – pre-existing pieces of art in this case, to generate “new work”. In short, it’s kinda just grabbing stuff from wherever, no matter who originally made it or how it may be licensed. Now this might sound like a trivial thing, but the implications it has for creative industries and the individual artist is nothing short of frightening.

As this area is not my forte, I sat down with a good friend of

mine, Olly, an animator, artist, and student here at Massey. Olly explained to me how these AI algorithms pull artwork from different sources, and the impact this has on the original artists.

“(AI art) is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s how it’s been implemented. These AI algorithms must be trained on a dataset of images, to then be able to create images, and you need A LOT of images to train it to do anything somewhat decent. So, what people have done, they’ve taken images… I believe there was a website called Art Station that for a while has been a site that a lot of artists upload their work to showcase their portfolios, and people took all the images from that website without the artists’ permission (I’m not sure if it was explicitly without permission or if something was hidden in the terms and conditions, but either way people were unaware their art was being used for this), and basically training the algorithms on other people’s artwork to then create their AI artwork. The reason this is bad: AI art doesn’t really create new things… It takes bits and pieces and combines them from other people’s art to create something that looks new, but it isn’t actually building it new from a sketch like a real artist would. You could see in a lot of the earlier AI art pieces, random squiggles in certain spots of the artwork, those were the remnants of artists signatures. That’s how you know ok, this is a problem. It’s taking people’s artwork without their permission; you can literally SEE the remnants of the signature.”

And if that wasn’t convincing enough of the AI plagiarism occurring, Olly also explained an incident that was designed to prove this was a problem.

“A lot of people (on Art Station) realised their art was being used in these datasets, so they started uploading these images that were black squares with the words “AI ART” and a red cross in front of that, basically saying no to AI art. And when people started those en mass, it ruined the dataset and all of these AI artworks started having these red squiggles over them due to these images tainting the dataset, which proved they were taking artwork without people’s permission.”

Forget museum theft, the next generation of art criminal may just be your Roomba.

All joking aside, it’s clear that there is a genuine problem occurring. AI art requires art to learn, so setting it loose on a dataset of work is the easiest option, no matter the ethics. Much as I hate him, I have to say that Roiland makes the slightest point. AI artwork can be used to create pieces that give off an “other-worldly” feel. Using that to add finishing touches to environmental art in a game: posters, framed

photos, things the player will see in the environment, etc, is not a silly idea.

But it needs to be done right.

Don’t set it loose on someone else’s work, create your own and cultivate a dataset for it to take from. While that might seem counterproductive as the artist could just make other-worldly art, we’ve all seen how weird the AI stuff can get and sometimes that may just be more effective. But again, it HAS to be done right and NEEDS the human element. Outside of plagiarism, it gets in the way of artists’ jobs. As a musician and writer, my art is my passion. If I found out someone was reworking it, or giving jobs I could do to a machine, I’d be pissed. AI art doesn’t necessarily need to be what it is now, we could easily use it in more effective and less ethically bankrupt ways, without removing the human element.

Like it or not, it’s a tool that is becoming part of the creative industry. People just need to figure out how to use it properly, without removing potential jobs and stealing from others.

Bumper Crossword

Across:

How tech-savvy are you?

1. What was the name of the first social networking website, launched in 1997?

2. What year was the first iPhone released, which revolutionized mobile social media usage?

3. What social media platform was launched by Google in 2011 as a competitor to Facebook?

4. What is the parent company of Snapchat?

5. What does CPU stand for?

6. OpenAI is the organisation behind which AI language model?

7. What is the maximum number of characters in a tweet?

8. Posted April 23, 2005, what was the first video posted on YouTube called?

9. In which year did Facebook pass 1 billion users?

10. Which British computer scientist invented the World Wide Web in 1989?

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