TIME100 AI honoree Danielle Boyer builds wearable robots teaching Indigenous languages
danielleboyerr · x · 2026-09-21
Danielle Boyer, an enrolled citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, made the 2026 TIME100 AI list and gave the opening toast at the 3rd annual TIME100 AI Impact Dinner, challenging the industry: "Progress for whom?"
In 2019, as a teenager, she founded The STEAM Connection, bringing free STEAM and robotics education to Indigenous kids — reaching over 1 million young people and distributing 25,000+ free robot kits. Her best-known project, SkoBots, are small wearable AI robots that teach Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) using prerecorded voices from the communities themselves, with shells bearing traditional woodland floral patterns, made from recycled materials and in-house 3D printing.
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