Inaugural AI Connect Conference in Ireland draws more than 120 experts and Enthusiasts

Pictured at AI Connect were pupils from Gael Scoil Aonach Urmhumhan, Alexander Makenzie, Oren Pope, Rhys Mitchell and Lauren Duggan, who won the VEX IQ Robot challenge award 2023. Photo: Paul Mullins

Over 120 people attended the inaugural AI Connect conference at the Future Mobility Campus on March 9, 2023

Freezing temperatures and snow on the ground didn’t deter over 120 people from attending the inaugural AI Connect at the Future Mobility Campus Ireland in Shannon run by AMAX on Thursday, March 9th.

The event which saw international experts and keynote speakers from all over the globe address local manufacturers, academic researchers and artificial intelligence (AI) enthusiasts for an entire day, was the very first of its kind in the Mid-West. One of the most popular sessions was training on graph neural networks led by Ekaterina Sirazitdinova, a Senior Data Scientist, representing NVIDIA.

The event began on Thursday morning with a range of technical keynote speakers from NVIDIA, Jaguar Land Rover and local start-up Provizio among others. A busy afternoon saw practical workshops where attendees could look at new technology and concepts around the use of AI. Niall Smith of AMAX, said, “It is a thrill to bring together industry leaders, practitioners and those who are just curious about AI and to see how the discussions about practical solutions to industrial challenges are teased out in a conference like today. We are very excited to bring all of these players into the same room together.”

Full house here at #AICONNECT in Shannon with @FMCampusIreland @AMAXTechnology and @NVIDIAEU pic.twitter.com/6YOHJcYtzy

— futuremobilityireland (@FMCampusIreland) March 9, 2023

Russell Vickers, CEO of Future Mobility Campus Ireland, “It was an amazing turnout. We are excited about this topic of AI, people are very interested in it. There is a lot of talk in the press about AI, but here today we are showcasing the practical applications of this technology.”

Researchers from Confirm, and Insight, both research centres for Science Foundation Ireland, were at the event with delegations of research students from University of Limerick, Technological University of the Shannon and University of Galway making up a strong cohort of researchers on-site to review the latest in industrial applications of AI.

Attendees were equally impressed by the calibre of speakers, the on-site demonstrations, and the ability to workshop around practical issues in using AI. Even ChatGPT was discussed, including the conversational AI tool that’s one of the most visible implementations of AI technology.

Organisers hope this becomes an annual event, growing in size and scope in years to come.

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