Year in Review: 2022


During the past year, the SFI ADAPT Centre’s researchers and collaborators have published working papers and journal articles covering a range of topics related to Artificial Intelligence; coordinated international research projects; won significant research funding; and expanded their public engagement and industry engagement. These activities demonstrate how AI, machine learning, data visualization, and other transformative technologies are shaping society and how we live and work.

A collection of some of our most popular news pieces from 2022 are here:

In January Meta (formerly Facebook) announced it is investing half a million euros with Irish institutions for research projects into privacy protection, data sharing and data governance. The projects will form part of Empower, an academic and industry research programme run by four SFI Research Centres: Lero, Insight, FutureNeuro and ADAPT.  Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/meta-invests-e500k-with-irish-institutions-for-research-on-data-privacy-protection/

In February Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD and Minister for Defence and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney TD today announced €2.4 million in funding to develop disruptive solutions to challenges facing the Irish Defence Forces.

Ten research teams have been shortlisted for the SFI-Defence Organisation Innovation Challenge. ‘Smart Hangar’, led by ADAPT PI at Maynooth University, Professor Rozenn Dahyot, was one of the projects funded. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/adapt-pi-to-lead-smart-hangar-project-for-defence-forces/

March saw new research by Dr. Elizabeth Hunter and Professor John D. Kelleher from the SFI ADAPT Centre at TU Dublin publish new research in the Frontiers of Neurology Journal on novel prediction models that are more accurate at identifying people under 60 stroke with a high risk of stroke who may not be identified using a traditional stroke risk prediction model.  The research  forms part of the Horizon 2020 research project Precise4Q. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/new-research-makes-ground-breaking-discoveries-for-stroke-prediction-in-younger-people/

In April, ADAPT announced a collaboration with Fidelity Investments on research into a more conversational approach to aid portfolio managers and ‘quants’ in the company.  The multi-year project will look to develop a conversational AI that can provide staff with real-time updates on portfolio adjustments whilst enabling them to perform a range of their daily operations more efficiently and more effectively. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/sfi-adapt-centre-collaborates-with-fidelity-investments-on-conversational-interface/

May ADAPT brought a new eye catching, self-learning exhibition has been installed outside the Stokes Building in Dublin City University as part of ADAPT’s #DiscussAI programme of public events. The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition immerses the public in data and privacy, and encourages visitors to question their understanding and comfort around this topic. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/adapt-brings-the-glass-room-misinformation-edition-to-dublin-city-university/

In June, ADAPT researchers presented breakthrough research that shows that we can reduce gender bias in natural language AI. Led by ADAPT Research Engineer Nishta Jain in collaboration with Microsoft and Imperial College London, the research was presented at the prestigious European Language Resource Association’s 13th Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC) in Marseille, France. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/breakthrough-research-shows-we-can-reduce-gender-bias-in-natural-language-ai/ 

In July, the ADAPT All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) secured funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to design and develop a new 2022 set of linguistics materials for cross-border workshops for secondary school students and their teachers. The project aims to introduce students to the areas of culture and linguistics, improve cross-border school and University collaboration, and increase the participation of disadvantaged schools in border regions. The project will also send a workshop programme brochure and sample training materials to over 1000 secondary schools on the island in early September.  Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/ailo-secures-all-island-funding-from-department-of-tourism-culture-arts-gaeltacht-sport-and-media/

In August, the website for Beyond 2022’s innovative project, The Virtual Treasury, was nominated for the prestigious ‘Site of the Day’ award with Awwwards, the awards for design, creativity and innovation on the Internet, along with their web partners EBOW. Sites nominated in the Awwwards will be evaluated by an international jury and Awwwards’ users. The Virtual Treasury is the outcome of a five-year State-funded programme of research entitled ‘Beyond 2022’. Led by Trinity College Dublin, Beyond 2022 has combined historical investigation, archival conservation, and technical innovation to recreate the Public Records Office archive that was lost on 30th June 1922 in the opening engagement of the Irish Civil War. The project was officially launched on the 27th June 2022 marking 100 years since the destruction of the archives. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/beyond-2022s-the-virtual-treasury-nominated-for-prestigious-website-award/ 

In September, ADAPT researchers won a Best Paper award (within the top 1% of submissions) for their paper ‘The TAC Toolkit: Supporting Design for User Acceptance of Health Technologies from a Macro-Temporal Perspective‘ at the ACM CHI 2022 conference. A leading international venue for Human-Computer Interaction research.The paper presented the Technology Acceptance (TAC) Toolkit, a method to design health technologies that people are more likely to accept and use in the long term. Looking at the user journey as a unique evolving trajectory, the TAC Toolkit guides designers to explore a range of factors that influence user acceptance over time. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/adapt-research-collaboration-the-tac-toolkit-wins-best-paper-at-acm-chi-2022/

October saw ADAPT partner with EY who launched a new AI Labs – a unique AI centre of excellence – offering clients access to game changing capabilities in big data, AI, smart automation, VR/AR and advanced analytics. EY Ireland’s expanding data analytics and technology consulting team, encompassing 220 people, will run and manage AI Labs to deploy a set of advanced technology client solutions and highly specialised client services. The skills and resources provided through AI Labs will ultimately equip organisations with the resources, tools, and insights they need to drive growth and market leading innovation. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/ey-launches-new-ai-centre-of-excellence-ai-labs-to-help-businesses-supercharge-growth-through-innovation/

In November ADAPT experts in language technology appealed to the European Parliament for language equality. The European Language Equality (ELE) project presented its findings at the European Parliament.  Coordinated by Professor Andy Way, Deputy Director of ADAPT and Professor of Computer Science at DCU, the first phase of ELE had 52 partners covering all European countries with the aim of developing a strategic agenda and roadmap for full digital language equality in Europe by 2030.  Experts presented and analysed technology support for Irish, Bulgarian, and Basque along with recommendations towards full digital language equality in the EU by 2030. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/adapt-experts-in-language-technology-appeal-to-european-parliament-for-language-equality/

In December Professor Owen Conlan delivered a talk on his research on Proactive Intelligent Personalised Agents (PIPAs) at the popular SCI:COM conference in Dublin. Through his research, Professor Conlan and his team at the ADAPT Centre are striving to realise the digitally-enhanced human through the research and development of multi-modal experiences and autonomous agents, mediated by appropriate human control. Read more: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-and-events/proactive-intelligent-personalised-agents-explored-at-scicom-2022/

Looking for other news?  See here: https://www.adaptcentre.ie/news-events/