Northern Ireland’s Artificial Intelligence conference, AI Con, has partnered with Future Screens NI and Northern Ireland Screen to capture the revolution and development of AI on film.
Four innovative filmmakers have been awarded £5,000 each to create a three-minute film or animation conveying the development and potential of AI and how this is changing business and society.
The successful applicants each delivered creative and engaging proposals to a panel of AI and Film experts and were selected from a long list of applicants.
Those successful applicants are:
• Boom Clap Play - a local creative design agency. The agency will create ‘The Generation Gap’, a short, animated film capturing a family conversation about Artificial Intelligence.
• Averly End Productions – a interdisciplinary team who brings together the worlds of Data Science, Empathic Technology, and Animation, to demonstrate the opportunities created by today's vibrant ecosystem of data. The team explores the questions that we as a culture will have to grapple with around our own concepts of ethics and truth in their short; ‘Future: Pending’.
• Celtic Dragon Studios – a collaborative duo, Ann Harrison and John Clerkin who create make animations, comics, illustrations and films. Working with software engineer and AI enthusiast Glenn Davidson, they will present ‘(The not so Secret) History of AI’ which is an engaging animation built upon accessible and everyday examples of the application and origin of AI.
• HUMAIN – a local animation agency, HUMAIN develop digital humans for world leading entertainment and technology companies. The agency will create a 3 min case study demonstrating how they are utilising machine learning in their 3D character pipeline.
Each short film will be showcased to a global audience at AI Con on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 December.
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The initiative is aimed at informing and educating the business community and the wider public on what Artificial intelligence is; how AI systems are developing in sectors such as health and finance and the arts; and what the implications for the current revolution of AI means for the Northern Ireland economy and society in the future.
Co-founder of AI Con, Tom Gray said: “The partnership of AI Con with Future Screens NI and Northern Ireland Screen is a fantastic opportunity for the incredible work that has been done in AI to be showcased on film. Our partners have been instrumental in this process and AI Con is thrilled to have worked alongside our creative colleagues to deliver an imaginative and exciting project.
“This unique initiative is a terrific way to inform and educate our AI Con audience, including business leaders and the wider public on the leaps AI is making, including the impacts this emerging sector is having on our economy and society. We are always looking for new ways to get the message of AI out to a broader, non-tech audience, and film is a perfect channel for this to be done.
“The creative industries have been dealt a major blow as a result of the pandemic and the implications have been severe on the arts sector. AI Con recognises the role played by our local creative industries in getting the message out and helping to showcase the tech world. Therefore, when presented with the chance to offer funding and work hand-in-hand with our creative colleagues, we jumped at it and are delighted to be able to support local talented individuals.
“I would like to congratulate Boom Clap Play, Averly End Productions, Celtic Dragon Studios and HUMAIN on their successful applications. Each proposal conveyed an engaging perspective on AI which will further educate and inform our audience. I look forward to seeing their finished products going live at this year’s AI Con.”
AI Con will look at advances in Artificial Intelligence and what it means for companies, government and the world in which we live, including the transformation AI is making to public sector services including health care.
Speakers at AI Con include, Northern Ireland Fintech Envoy Andrew Jenkins, Marten Kaevtas, National Digital Advisor to the Estonia Government, and Dame Wendy Hall Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton.
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