Tullamore student is overall winner of AI video competition

Tullamore student Luke Carey, a final year architecture student at University of Limerick, has been chosen as the overall winner of the AI assisted video competition Togra Scéalaí.

Luke’s winning work, for which he receives a prize of €1,500, is entitled 'A Contemporary Gaeltacht' and is based on his final year architectural thesis project ‘the revival of a language through architecture- the adaptive reuse of colonial era factories’.

Winner of first prize in AI only category was Oisín Ó hEartán, a writer and director from Corca Dhuibhne, Co. Kerry, for his entry ‘An Laoch Óg’.

In choosing the overall prize winners in the competition, adjudicator Micheál Ó Drisleáin of Nemeton TV said: “I was incredibly impressed by the quality and the work that was put into these videos by all of the participants. There was a lot of variety and the entries that made it to the judging panel were of excellent quality. Our world is changing, and it is clear that videos made like this will have a role in our future. Irish speakers should have a central part in this.”

The prize fund included the first, second and third place winners in each of the two categories, those entirely created using AI tools and those partially created using AI tools.

In Category 1 (created solely with AI), other winners were Colm Farrell from Leitrim, who won second prize (€1,000) for his entry entitled 'An Solas Idir Dhá Shaol' and programme maker Sinéad Ní Loideáin, from Na Forbacha, Co. Galway for her entry ‘Le Chéile IS Fearr’ winning €500.

Other Category 2 winners (partial AI use) included Seán Ó Coistealbha from Indreabhán, Co na Gaillimhe for his entry ‘Athrú Iomlán’ (€1000 prize) and Saudi Arabia's Aminafawzy Mohammed, whose entry was entitled ‘The Irish Language’ (€500 prize).

An Togra Scéalaí, an AI video generated competition, was initiated by Údarás na Gaeltachta as an opportunity to encourage discussion around this aspect of AI, in presenting the tools, opportunities and challenges that it offers the Gaeltacht and the Irish speaking community.

On presenting the prize-winners, Ruairí Ó Néill, Director of Corporate Services, Údarás na Gaeltachta, commented: “It is essential that we ensure the prominence and visibility of the Irish language in the new digital world we live in. As things stand, there is very little available on digital platforms as Gaeilge compared to other languages. One of the best ways to deal with this gap is to empower the people to add to the amount of content available as Gaeilge. This gives people the opportunity to create content as Gaeilge for their families and friends all while adding significantly to the digital environment of the Irish language. By partaking in the competition, Gaeltacht communities and the Irish language community had the opportunity to learn about the latest technologies available to create Irish Language video content.”

The role and commitment of Údarás na Gaeltachta in supporting the audiovisual sector in the Gaeltacht since the beginning of the nineties continues to this day and Údarás na Gaeltachta has invested substantially in the audiovisual industry in both capital and training infrastructures. This investment has resulted in the Conamara Gaeltacht becoming a stronghold for production companies, along with a network of other businesses in the sector located in the Gaeltachts of Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Mayo and Donegal.