Major artificial intelligence conference set for first date in Belfast

A major artificial intelligence conference is set to be staged in Belfast for the first time.
By Rebecca Black
Published 5th Nov 2019, 09:37 BST
Undated handout photo issued by Brown O'Connor Communications of (left to right) Adrian Johnston from Digital Catapult, Austin Tanney from Kainos, Gillian Armstrong of Liberty IT, Alastair McKinley from Analytics Engines, and Tom Gray from Kainos. A major conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to be hosted in Belfast for the first time on Thursday 28th November.Undated handout photo issued by Brown O'Connor Communications of (left to right) Adrian Johnston from Digital Catapult, Austin Tanney from Kainos, Gillian Armstrong of Liberty IT, Alastair McKinley from Analytics Engines, and Tom Gray from Kainos. A major conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to be hosted in Belfast for the first time on Thursday 28th November.
Undated handout photo issued by Brown O'Connor Communications of (left to right) Adrian Johnston from Digital Catapult, Austin Tanney from Kainos, Gillian Armstrong of Liberty IT, Alastair McKinley from Analytics Engines, and Tom Gray from Kainos. A major conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to be hosted in Belfast for the first time on Thursday 28th November.

AI Con is expected to bring global leaders in the field to the Northern Ireland capital later this week for the first AI Con to be held in the region.

AI leaders from companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft will discuss some of the major technological advances and how it is changing the world in which we live at the event on Thursday.

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The conference will also examine the very practical ways in which AI is transforming how businesses operate and will look at how the latest advances in AI research can be implemented.

Tom Gray, chief technology officer at Kainos said AI is an area of rapid growth in the technology sector.

"There is an incredible amount of work being done locally to move it from research, into business and job creation," he said.

"AI is entering a new 'age of implementation' which means many trailblazing companies are now applying increasingly mature and proven technologies and techniques to solve real problems and create new business opportunities for companies and organisations in every sector.

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"The time is now right to bring our AI community together with potential beneficiaries of the technology to talk about how we grow skills and the economy and, as we've done with the software sector, make the responsible implementation of AI a core strength of the region."

Lorraine Acheson of Innovate UK added: "The AI community is fast becoming a thriving part of the technology sector and it is important that this is supported and nurtured.

"That also means we need to talk now about how we meet the recruitment and skills needs of this growing sector, and how we can attract talented people into it."

AI Con will take place at the Europa Hotel in Belfast on Thursday.

Related topics:BelfastNorthern IrelandMicrosoftGoogleAmazon