ADAPT Hosts Successful ADVANCE 2024 Event

This week, ADAPT ran a highly anticipated ADVANCE 2024 event in Trinity College Dublin.  Focused on Generative AI and the impact it is having across domains, the sold-out event featured enlightening discussions and thought-provoking insights into the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence. 

Highlights of the event included a range of distinguished speakers and experts who explored the cutting edge of generative AI research, regulation, societal benefits, and industry challenges.

Dragos Tudorache MEP delivered a compelling keynote address, offering an inside perspective on Europe’s position in the global AI landscape and the EU AI Act. He emphasised the opportunity for Europe to lead AI development for the benefit of mankind.

Director of ADAPT, Professor John Kelleher shared his extensive knowledge on AI adoption and deployment. His talk covered pre-trained models, RAG, and prompt engineering, highlighting the immense data and compute power required for large language models. He also discussed sustainability considerations and ADAPT’s commitment to creating trustworthy and ethically robust systems.

A dynamic panel discussion, expertly chaired by Elaine Burke, featured Emma Redmond from OpenAI, Medb Corcoran of Accenture, Prof. Dave Lewis of ADAPT, and Dragos Tudorache. The panelists examined the balance needed between innovation and regulation, and how they are keeping pace with rapid AI advancements.

ADAPT’s Professor Anya Belz and Miqdad Dali from aiExplain took the audience through practical examples of AI implementation in companies, emphasising the importance of starting small with clear use cases for success.

Commercial Development Manager at ADAPT, Edmond O’Connor, introduced three innovative projects by Dr Filip Klubicka, Dr Lynn Kilgallon, and Dr Donal Sexton, showcasing how generative AI is driving industry productivity, cultural insights, and medical advancements.

With innovation happening at all levels, ADAPT also featured eight start-up companies whose foundations were formed in ADAPT research.  They included eAltra with Denis Roche; TiLT with Conor McNally; KatoAI with Mark Kelly; DigiAcademy with Esther Murphy; Contenseo with Stephen Conmy; VoiceTune AI with Joao Cabral; aiMapit with Julie Connelly; and Swan with Eoin Cambray.

ADAPT researchers also shared their latest research projects, with presentations by Dr Vasu Nedumpozhimana, Dr Filip Klubicka, Delaram Golpayegani, Dr Eamonn Kenny, Awais Akbar, and Dr Martha Lasek-Markey.

The day started with a video from the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science,  Patrick O’Donovan, and a short speech by Ciarán Seoighe of SFI who set the tone for the day.

The ADVANCE 2024 event highlighted the importance of collaboration for the safe development of AI.