Award for Limerick student who addresses challenge of AI

A DATA science student from Adare has won a top entrepreneurship award.

Gillian O’Donnell, who is in her final year at University College Cork (UCC) has won its computer science entrepreneurship award for 2024, beating eight other students.

It came after she impressed judges with her project which looked at defending computer security attacks.

The genesis of the scheme occurred when she was on a third-year work placement, and saw significant vulnerabilities which can be caused by attacks from artificial intelligence systems.

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Artificial intelligence is a technology that allows computers and digital devices to learn, read, write, create and analyse.

Explaining her project, Gillian said: “As AI progresses, so does the sophistication of AI-driven cyberattacks. My project addresses the complexity of AI-driven attacks by using machine learning to model cyber attacks against a company’s network and their defence in terms of game-theoretic interactions, where we run simulations about how the attacker and defender can learn. The project simulates the dynamics of cyber conflicts, allowing for the analysis of security vulnerabilities to build more robust, proactive defences.”

It is the fourth year students at UCC’s school of computer science and information technology have contested this award.

Entries were judged by Dan Murphy and Declan Fox, who work for the sponsors, the computer industry group AxisBic.

Mr Fox said: “We are delighted to once again sponsor the UCC computer science entrepreneurship award in 2024. Being involved in this award goes to the heart of what AxisBic is about. Identifying innovative entrepreneurs, providing support and essential business expertise to ensure they grow and succeed. The competition was very strong and we look forward to seeing more entrepreneurs emerge from UCC’s computer science students.”