Shaping Ireland in the Age of AI

Tickets: €7 | Concessions: €5
All proceeds go to Moate Tidy Towns

AI is changing how we work, what we see online and even the stories that shape how we think. But what does that mean for us here in Irish towns and communities?

Join three leading Irish voices in AI for a lively and accessible evening exploring some of the big questions around artificial intelligence: How is AI changing Irish culture? Whose values should AI learn? And what could it mean for jobs, businesses and communities outside our big cities?

The evening will feature three talks:

From Folklore to Feeds: How AI Is Changing the Stories That Shape Ireland
with Louise McCormack

Ethics & AI Systems: Whose Values Should AI Learn?
with Jonny O’Dwyer

AI and the Future of Work in Irish Towns and Villages
with Mícheál O’Neill

No technical knowledge is needed. Just curiosity and an interest in what AI might mean for Ireland, our communities and the way we live and work.

Louise McCormack

Originally from Moate, Co. Westmeath, Louise McCormack is a leader in the field of ethical AI, specialising in trustworthy and responsible artificial intelligence.

She contributes to international AI standards through the National Standards Authority of Ireland and her doctoral research at the University of Galway focuses on how AI systems can be evaluated for trustworthiness.

Louise is the developer of the Trustworthy AI Maturity Model (TAIMM), founder of the Irish Alliance for Trustworthy AI, a TEDx speaker and winner of the University of Galway Threesis competition.

Her work brings together academic research and real-world experience to explore how AI can develop in a way that is ethical, accountable and worthy of our trust.

Jonny O’Dwyer

Jonny O’Dwyer is an AI researcher and lecturer with the Department of Accounting & Business Computing at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).

He holds a BEng (Hons) in Software Engineering from Athlone Institute of Technology and a PhD in Software Engineering from TUS, where he was a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholar.

His research interests include artificial intelligence ethics, affective computing and machine learning operations.

Mícheál O’Neill

Mícheál O’Neill grew up on a rural crossroads in Tombrack, Ferns, Co. Wexford, and has spent more than 20 years building and growing businesses.

He is the founder of AI With Kelso and CEO of Kelso Digital, where he helps people and businesses put AI to practical use so they can spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time building relationships and growing their organisations.

Mícheál has trained more than 2,000 business owners and delivered digital transformation projects for more than 200 Irish businesses across 15 sectors. He also holds AI qualifications from MIT and UCD, including Applied Agentic AI for Organisational Transformation and Advanced Artificial Intelligence.

He speaks internationally on AI and business growth.