In a world where our relationship with technology is becoming increasingly complicated we need robust tools to manage this complexity. Chirp, an innovative, AI-powered child-protection software is an example of AI being put to work for a good cause. We spoke with the founder, Rena Maycock, to hear about how AI has been instrumental in powering the startup.

‘Chirp is a combination of deep tech, cyber security and AI,’ she told us. Embedded within the operating system of a child’s device, of a child’s device, Chirp detects and blocks harmful content from reaching children and provides realtime alerts for cyberbullying, grooming, and suicide and self-harm content. In order to develop an accurate system for detecting such content, Chirp had to do a huge amount of research into children's online experiences and behaviours, which was done in partnership with the Anti Bullying Research Centre at DCU and the UNESCO Chair for the Prevention of Bullying in Schools and Cyberspace. However, in order to scale this ‘gold standard data’ to the degree needed for Chirp to detect a diverse range of harmful content effectively, Maycock’s team needed to use AI powered language models.

‘Without Generative AI coming in and helping us to build up our data sets from the gold standard data we had, it would have been very difficult for us to get to that level of detection efficiency.’

This has enabled the Chirp team to create a product at the cutting edge of online safety - something that’s more important now than ever to combat the proliferation of AI ‘deepfakes’ and other harmful materials. ‘It's always going to be a race to keep up with bad actors,’ Maycock explained, ‘And if they're using AI, then we need to use AI’.

Consumers are looking for new solutions to new problems, and are quickly becoming accustomed to better quality services. Maycock says: ‘As AI has become more ubiquitous, the fear about AI is dissipating. Mostly people going about their daily lives are now used to much more efficient technology, more efficient search, more efficient services’. As AI use grows across different industries, businesses will have to keep pace with consumer expectations.

Overall, AI has been invaluable in the development and growth of Chirp - not just as a product, but operationally too. ‘As a small business, AI has helped us to grow productivity exponentially’, Maycock says. For startups working with small teams and lean processes, using AI to help with things from administrative tasks to translation services can enable them to scale at pace, generate cost efficiencies, and ultimately allow specialised teams to spend their time on more valuable deep work. ‘It's most definitely saved us a lot of money, and it's accelerated our time to market’, Maycock says.

Chirp’s story shows that AI can enable the development of innovative products, unlocking possibilities that may have been unthinkable even a few years ago. Our world may be changing, but Irish businesses are changing too - what an exciting time to be involved.

“As a small business, AI has helped us to grow productivity exponentially”

– Rena Maycock, Founder, Chirp