Bank of Ireland and Webio among winners at AI Awards

/ 23rd November 2022 /

Bank of Ireland, UCD's AI_PREMie and Webio were among the Irish companies recognised at the fourth annual AI Awards, celebration innovation in artificial intelligence across economic sectors.

Bank of Ireland won Best Application of AI in a Large Enterprise for the implementation of its Downstream User Table, which identifies the maturity journey of a cohort of machine learning models implemented for customer propensity modelling.

The bank aims to offer a single view of validated, accurate and ready to use output for downstream users for a variety of purposes with the technology.

AI_PREMie, the AI research project hosted at the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science that identifies pre-eclampsia in pregnant people, won Best Application of AI to Achieve Social Good and Best Application of AI in an Academic Research Body.

The project combines AI with patented biomarkers and clinical expertise to accurately diagnose pre-eclampsia and predict the patient’s future outcome, helping to save the lives of mothers and babies.

Webio's proprietary conversational engine, which won Best Use of Responsible AI & Ethics as well as Best Use of AI in a Consumer/Customer Service Application, gives a user the opportunity to speak to a trained operative while ensuring conversations remain private and that the information shared is not used in any manner than intended by the customer.

The AI Awards seek to recognise how AI can be used to help solve business, academic, environmental and health challenges. The event was organised by the non-profit AI Ireland and supported by headline sponsor Microsoft along with other sponsors: Alldus International, the ADAPT Centre, CCT College Dublin, Mazars and IDA Ireland.

“Since their inception, Microsoft has been a proud sponsor of the AI Awards which have continued to evolve at an accelerated pace across all sectors in Ireland," said Anne Sheehan, general manager of Microsoft Ireland.

Microsoft Ireland Small, Medium and Corporate Sales Director Peter Lougheed presenting the winner of AI Award for Best Application of AI in an Academic Research to Prof Patricia Maguire, Professor of Biochemistry at UCD and Project Lead, AI_PREMie. Picture Conor McCabe Photography

"At Microsoft, we know that technology can and should be a force for good, which is why it’s wonderful to see the introduction of four new categories for responsible use of ethics, showcasing Ireland’s commitment to the trustworthy use of new digital solutions.

"Innovation through AI technology can make such a positive impact across many different sectors, from education and research to finance and health, as well as addressing some of the bigger challenges we are facing as a society. The AI Awards are key to harnessing this and recognising Irish talent and we want to congratulate all their winners for their exciting innovation in AI.”

Mark Kelly, founder of AI Ireland and AI Awards, commented: "It's been fantastic to witness the breadth and depth of the AI Award's winners today. The applications have shown how AI can have a positive impact across Irish society."

A total of 12 awards were handed out, including AI Person of the Year to SoapBox Labs VP of speech technology Dr Amelia Kelly, Women in AI Person of the Yearr to Janssen's Terri O'Donovan, and Young AI Role Model of the Year to ESB's Kevin Quinlan.

Kinesense won Best Use of AI in an SMEs for its Visual Intelligence Search Platform, which seeks to improve workflows for transcoding, analysing, and distributing videos using deep learning video analytics and cloud-based processing technologies.

SeamlessCARE won Best Application of AI in a Startup for its AI application Empathetic, which helps non-verbal people to communicate while Eoin Delaney, PhD student at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics & VistaMilk SFI Research Centre in UCD, won Best Application of AI in a Student Project for his research of Explainable AI.

Finally, Trinity College spin-out Akara Robotics won Best Application of AI in Healthcare for Violet, its clinical-grade fully autonomous UV disinfection robot.

Image: Pictured at the 2022 AI Awards Ceremony at the Gibson Hotel today are (centre) Microsoft Ireland Small, Medium and Corporate Sales Director Peter Lougheed, Prof Patricia Maguire, Professor of Biochemistry at UCD and Project Lead, AI_PREMie – winner of AI Award for Best Application of AI in an Academic Research, Young AI Role Model of the Year, Kevin Quinlan, Lead Data Scientist, ESB - winner of AI Award for Best Application of AI in a Large Enterprise. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.