Local student competes at All Island Linguistic Problem Solving Final

Sara Delaney from Mercy Secondary School Kilbeggan competed at the national finals of the 16th All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) in Dublin City University (DCU) recently.

Run by ADAPT, the world-leading SFI Research Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology, the contest challenges secondary school students to apply logic and reasoning skills to solve complex puzzles in unfamiliar languages.

The 104 national finalists, from 45 schools in 20 counties, have come through preliminary rounds held in schools all over the country in January. Over 3,500 students registered for this year’s contest. Competing in individual and team rounds, the finalists are faced with anything from deciphering ancient Norse scripts about Thor to working out unusual counting systems such as Bukiyip where there are two counting systems, depending on what you are counting.

The AILO finals see teenagers solve puzzles that require lateral thinking skills and the ability to think outside the box. Students must analyse the language data they are given to work out the ‘rules’ of the new language. These transferable skills are critical in preparing young people for a wide range of careers in computing, linguistics and language.

Four winners from AILO will go on to represent Ireland at the International Linguistics Olympiad held in Brazil in July.

The results of the National Final of the All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad will be released shortly. Sample puzzles from the Olympiad can be downloaded at https://ailo.adaptcentre.ie/sample-puzzles/