By Jihee Junn for The Spinoff

In The Primer, each week The Spinoff asks a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week it's co-founder of Reobot, Jason Lovell, whose IBM Watson-powered chatbot allows you to practise conversational Māori via Facebook Messenger.

ONE: How did Reobot start and what was the inspiration behind it?

I want to speak te reo Māori and I want to practise every day. But with work and other commitments, it isn't practical for me to go to classes every night. So I started looking at other ways to engage more in te reo Māori. When Jonnie Cain, Reobot's co-founder, demonstrated to me the ease and accessibility of artificial intelligence (AI) technology after he attended an AI Day, I realised this had the potential to help me and others who might face the same challenges. So we decided to create Reobot.

TWO: Did you have any interest/experience in business or entrepreneurship prior to starting Reobot?

Both Jonnie and I are pretty new to this, but we've always been interested in new ideas and finding better ways of doing things to make a positive difference.

THREE: How much Māori do you have to know to get the best out of Reobot?

Reobot is currently set up for people who know a few words or are learning te reo Māori, and I'd suggest using it a little bit each day. It's a way to converse more, build your confidence and keep what you're learning at the front of your mind.

Reobot has a short intro for new users and will prompt you with a few key phrases. Ask the same question multiple times to see a few different responses. Or if you're unsure how to respond, ask the question back to Reobot.