(This article is produced by our Gaeltacht team. You can read the original Irish version of this piece here)

AN AMBITIOUS PROPOSAL for a contemporary Gaeltacht set in a former sugar mill in County Offaly was the subject of a film made using artificial intelligence tools that won one of the top prizes in a controversial competition run by Údarás na Gaeltachta

When the competition was announced at the end of last year, a group of artists said it was an insult to the arts.

The group Aerach Aiteach Gaelach said at the time that “the arts community as a whole was outraged by the negative impact that artificial intelligence is having on their craft”.

The competition came to an end this week when a small group of people gathered in a room in the Connemara Coast Hotel across the road from the Údarás headquarters in Forbacha.

In total, 11 entries competed for six prizes in two categories: three prizes for works entirely rendered with artificial intelligence tools and three for works that used artificial intelligence tools to enhance other original works.

Luke Carey from Tullamore in County Offaly won the top prize of €1,500 in this competition for his work about the contemporary Gaeltacht set in a former sugar factory.

A work describing Finn Mhic Cumhail by television director Oisín Ó Sheartáin from the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht was in the other section for films made entirely with artificial intelligence.

Colm Farrell from Manorhamilton in County Leitrim had a work in which he told the story of a young woman who was caring for her grandmother. On her way home later, the young woman had an accident while driving her car during a heavy snowfall. Her grandmother came to her aid.

Another award-winning work was The Irish Language by Aminafawzy Mohammed. This short film won the third prize of €500 for a film made with the help of several artificial intelligence tools.

Údarás na Gaeltachta chief executive Tomás Ó Síocháin said that the competition was set up ‘on a trial basis’ in an attempt to inform the public about artificial intelligence and the ways in which it could be used.

“We need to make sure that people are first and foremost familiar with the new tools that are emerging and that those tools will serve the Irish language community,” he said, recalling that it was important for the community to understand that these tools could be used through the medium of Irish.

During an interview with The Journal, Ó Síocháin said that the agency wanted the Gaeltacht to be at the centre of the artificial intelligence industry in the same way that it had emerged as a leader in the audiovisual industry.

According to him, the investment by the Údarás had kickstarted a progression which had a peak recently when An Cailín Ciúin was nominated for an Oscar. He also said that the Gaeltacht had missed out on more investment in the growth of the internet and the app store, and he did not want that to happen with regard to artificial intelligence.

There was a very mixed quality evident in the videos produced for this competition, indicating ambition and limited experience with AI tools. It was also clear that people with more experience with the AI ​​tools, but with little Irish, were entering the competition.

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.