Dublin, May 2024: The ADAPT Research Ireland Centre held the fourth ADAPT Annual Scientific Conference in celebration of the research carried out in the centre, in the Helix, DCU on the 15th May 2024.
The ADAPT Centre hosted the fourth ADAPT Annual Scientific Conference bringing together over 190 members of the ADAPT community to celebrate ongoing research, share recent publications, and foster future collaborations across the Centre. This internal conference is a key fixture in ADAPT’s calendar, providing a unique opportunity for researchers to connect, exchange ideas, and showcase the innovative work shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
The day began with a welcome address from ADAPT Director Professor John Kelleher and Deputy Director Professor Cathal Gurrin. Their opening remarks set the stage for a full day of research presentations, discussions, and interactive engagements. The conference featured twelve insightful presentations, fifty-five posters, and two demonstrations. Adding a unique dimension to the event, the Education and Public Engagement (EPE) team’s pop-up ‘Art or AI?’ museum was another standout highlight.
A major highlight of the conference was the keynote address delivered by Professor Cristina Conati from the University of British Columbia. Her talk, titled “Towards Human-Centered, Personalised Explainable AI,” explored the critical role of user acceptance and trust in the development of artificial intelligence systems. Professor Conati discussed how personalised explanations can improve users’ understanding and trust in AI-driven decisions. She presented findings on the influence of long-term user traits in the personalisation of explainable AI, with specific examples in Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Recommender Systems, and Health applications.
The conference concluded with an awards ceremony recognising outstanding contributions. Delaram Golpayegani from Trinity College Dublin received the Best Overall Contribution Award for her work on semantic frameworks aimed at simplifying compliance with the EU AI Act. Emily Ip, also from Trinity College Dublin, was awarded Best Student Contribution for her research on socially-relevant speech neurophysiology in dialogue listening tasks. Sami Ul Haq from Dublin City University won Best Poster for his research on context-aware evaluation of machine translation systems.
The conference highlighted the strength and diversity of research taking place across the Centre, demonstrating AI’s wide-ranging applications and impact. Special thanks were extended to the Scientific Committee for their thoughtful review of submissions, to the organising committee for delivering a smooth and engaging event, and to all attendees and volunteers whose participation made the day a resounding success.
