

AI Ireland with Mark Kelly
AI Ireland
Join host Mark Kelly on the AI Ireland podcast as he explores the impactful applications of AI in both business and society.
Discover groundbreaking research, innovative technologies, and thought-provoking discussions on the ethical implications of AI.
Gain valuable insights into how AI is being applied to business and society, as Ireland drives positive change and fosters innovation in this dynamic podcast.
Discover groundbreaking research, innovative technologies, and thought-provoking discussions on the ethical implications of AI.
Gain valuable insights into how AI is being applied to business and society, as Ireland drives positive change and fosters innovation in this dynamic podcast.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 14, 2023 • 13min
E130 John Clancy, Founder and CEO at Galvia
Today’s guest is John Clancy, Founder and CEO at Galvia. Based in Galway, Galvia's mission is to make AI accessible to all organisations, regardless of size. They believe teams should be able to access the benefits of an AI platform and empowered to focus on what matters most, whether that’s value creation or more engaged customers.
Galvia were a finalist in the Best Application of AI in a Startup at last month's AI Awards for addressing the University of Galway’s pandemic-induced challenges with an AI-driven student engagement platform named Cara. It helped reduce staff workload by 40%, saving 1500+ hours and instantly resolved 84% of student queries.
Topics include:
Creating an AI-driven platform to aid student engagement
Applying AI to simplify student support processes
Training university data to prioritise top student queries intuitively
Deploying securely in private cloud while prioritising data governance
An AI-driven content system to aid mental health support pathways for students
Data provisioning challenges in diverse tech stacks for machine learning

Dec 12, 2023 • 17min
E129 Emanuel Popovici, Director at the Embedded Systems Group, University College Cork
Today’s guest is Emanuel Popovici, Director at the Embedded Systems Group within the School of Engineering at University College Cork. Since 2005, the Embedded Systems Research Group has pursued a broad range of activities through research, teaching, outreach and collaboration with industry.
Emanuel and his team were a finalist in the Best Application of AI in an Academic Research Body and Best Application of AI in Healthcare at the 2023 AI Awards for for their project which addresses neonatal mortality in low-income countries caused by heart and brain issues. It employs AI to interpret physiological signals, improving early detection and healthcare access.
Topics include:
An overview of his research in solving real-life problems with AI
How engineers and doctors collaborate to improve healthcare
Improving neonatal brain anomaly detection using AI and sound
Their focus on XAI, emphasising human listening acuity for special sounds
How human-AI cooperation promises practical healthcare solutions

Dec 7, 2023 • 12min
E128 Conrad Bernath, Head of Speech and Machine Learning at T-Pro
Today’s guest is Conrad Bernath, Head of Speech and Machine Learning at T-Pro. Headquartered in Dublin, T-Pro is a global leader in clinical documentation improvement software. The company's technology allows healthcare providers to voice enable their existing EPR, reduce transcription costs, outsource overflow transcription and capture patient information effectively and efficiently from anywhere on any device.
Conrad was a nominee for AI Person of the Year at the 2023 AI Awards for his work in revolutionising healthcare with advanced NLP solutions. His leadership refines medical documentation, streamlines workflows and improves patient outcomes. Through his expertise and dedication, Conrad is setting new benchmarks by integrating AI into healthcare processes, elevating standards in the industry.
Topics include:
Problems T-Pro are solving in healthcare documentation
Automating healthcare documentation with speech recognition and NLP
Securing healthcare data with encryption and anonymization
The impact to healthcare workflows and challenges to quantify impact
Developing a digital healthcare assistant using generative AI

Dec 5, 2023 • 10min
E127 Alan Moore, Founder and CEO at Tax World
Today’s guest is Alan Moore, Founder and CEO at Tax World. Based in Dublin, Tax World were a nominee for the 2023 AI Awards in the Best Use of AI in a Consumer/Customer Service category for their product Ezylia, which addresses the complex issue of obtaining clear tax information with a personal AI assistant.
Ezylia has been trained on Irish tax law, tax commentary and publications with over 10 years of questions and answers from Tax World's members area. They employ OpenAI’s ChatGPT, regex and Python to efficiently answer tax questions, simplify tax topics and reduce research time for professionals.
Topics include:
How their 10,000 Q&A database boosts AI accuracy
Ensuring detailed sourcing in AI data for clients' trust
Rapid customer expansion and global reach via referrals
Empowering accountants with comprehensive tax support
A tax-centric approach, UK expansion & streamlined system success

Nov 30, 2023 • 11min
E126 David Atkinson, Co-Founder and CEO at Lip
Today’s guest is David Atkinson, Co-Founder and CEO at Lip. Founded in 2023, Lip uses augmented to dubbing to make it look like you can actually speak a different language. David's vision for Lip is every single person in the world being able to speak to every single other person in the world, seamlessly.
Lip won the 2023 AI Award for Best Use of AI in a Consumer/Customer Service application for addressing the challenge of language barriers in content creation by using AI to generate lip movements that make it appear as if you can speak another language. This technology aims to help creators reach broader language markets quickly.
Topics include:
Lip's AI software for global content translation
How they simplify video translation for customers
Using Generative AI to mimic multilingual live speech
How they streamline language adaptation in training and marketing
The startup journey with challenges, growth and excitement

Nov 28, 2023 • 12min
E125 Paul Johnston, British Ambassador to Ireland
Today’s guest is Paul Johnston, British Ambassador to Ireland. Having joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, Paul has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. His previous roles include British Ambassador to Sweden, Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO and UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security to name a few
Paul became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020. The Ambassador represents His Majesty The King and the UK government in the country to which they are appointed. They are responsible for the direction and work of the embassy and its consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations and consular services.
Topics include:
AI's promise for good and need for safety balance
How the AI Summit emphasises a multi-stakeholder approach to AI management
The UK's multi-million-pound investment in AI skills and technology advancement
The AI Summit's aim to balance AI's potential with shared safety understanding
Global AI development, balancing innovation and safety through collaboration
Developing safe AI for global benefit, inclusivity, and societal improvement.

Nov 23, 2023 • 22min
E124 Paul Sweeney, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Webio
Today’s guest is Paul Sweeney, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Webio. Previous 2022 and 2021 AI Awards winners Webio are bringing Artificial Intelligence driven conversations to the enterprise. The company's conversational interface uses AI to streamline inbound and outbound customer communications across new and existing channels.
Webio were a finalist in the Best Use of AI in a Consumer/Customer Service Application and Best Use of Responsible AI and Ethics categories at the 2023 AI Awards for addressing debt collection challenges with empathetic, privacy-first and customisable conversational interactions. By tackling customer needs ethically, they enhance customer engagement, agent efficiency and financial outcomes.
Topics include:
How Webio improves collections through digital conversations
Leading with empathy to streamline and improve customer engagement
Detecting customer vulnerabilities for fast support
Using AI & NLP to build a comprehensive platform for credit collections
Ensuring ethical AI with controlled, integrated and customisable solutions
How their conversational forms improved completion and customer engagement

Nov 20, 2023 • 14min
E123 David O'Sullivan, Senior Manager - Privacy & Digital Trust, Mazars in Ireland
Today’s guest is David O'Sullivan, Senior Manager - Privacy & Digital Trust at Mazars in Ireland. Mazars is one of Ireland's industry leaders in audit and accounting, tax, financial advisory and consulting services. With 30+ partners and more than 700 staff across their Dublin, Galway and Limerick offices, the Irish firm draws on the expertise of more than 47,000 professionals in 95+ countries to assist major international groups, SMEs, private investors and public bodies at every stage in their development.
David is an experienced Privacy and digital trust professional operating across a number of industries including health, financial services, recruitment, higher education and software development. He has managed large scale implementation and change projects, embedding privacy and AI governance into the organisation. David believes in an ethical and user/data subject first approach that is tailored to achieve business goals.
Topics include:
His role with Mazars within global data protection and AI consulting
Addressing data compliance, privacy & AI training considerations
Verifying ChatGPT outputs for reliability in client work
Why AI governance & compliance is crucial for responsible integration
Prepare governance, strategy, education for AI integration & compliance readiness
Why early governance is key for adaptable & efficient AI compliance strategies

Nov 16, 2023 • 20min
E122 Dr. Alireza Dehghani, AI Technical Program Manager at CeADAR Ireland
Today’s guest is Dr. Alireza Dehghani, AI Technical Program Manager at CeADAR Ireland. Alireza is a passionate and experienced AI Technical Program Manager and Chief Product Officer with a profound dedication to leveraging AI and data science to drive meaningful change and innovation. With a PhD in Computing and significant industry experience, he brings a unique blend of technical expertise, leadership and strategic insight to every project.
Alireza is nominated for the 2023 AI Awards in the Best Application of AI in Sustainability and Best Application of AI in an Academic Research Body for ReLeafHubs which uses AI-driven solutions, including the myRWH.app recommender system and AI Digital Twins (AIDTs) to transform Remote Working Hubs (RWHs) in Ireland with the aim of reducing carbon emissions, boosting local economies and improving work-life balance.
Topics include:
How ReLeafHubs helps balance the new normal and address climate change
How AI uses data to optimise remote working hubs
Using Digital twins in remote working hubs for data-driven insights
Utilising AI in identifying opportunities for urban area improvements
How privacy-preserving machine learning alleviates data privacy concerns
Challenges and opportunities in scaling ReLeafHubs
The importance of feedback to enhance the Remote working hubs experience

Nov 14, 2023 • 17min
E121 Rena Maycock, Founder at Cilter Technologies
Today’s guest is Rena Maycock, Founder at Cilter Technologies. Cilter is nominated for the 2023 AI Awards in the category of Best Application of AI to Achieve Social Good for the development of their embedded software to protect children from cyberbullying and online grooming. This unique system operates at a deep level, blocking harmful messages and notifying parents, aiming to make smartphones safer for children.
Rena is also nominated for Women in AI Person of the Year for leading the development of Cilter's child protection software for smartphones, addressing cyberbullying and grooming. Rena is also recognised as a respected columnist who advocates for women in tech, lobbies for funding equality and mentors aspiring female founders.
Topics include:
Her background and origins of Cilter Technologies
Why they developed a patented solution for child safety online
Creating tech for child safety online involving collaboration & AI databases
Their goal to reduce cyberbullying, grooming and harmful content through early detection
Their mission for universal parental control across all devices for child safety


