Jake Baker and Brandon Jaroszczak from Presentation College Carlow

JAKE Baker and Brandon Jaroszczak from Presentation College Carlow competed at the national finals of the All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) in Dublin City University (DCU) on Wednesday 1 March.

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 100 national finalists from 49 schools in 21 counties have come through preliminary rounds in schools all over the island in January. More than 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, which involves 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 the national final will represent Ireland at the International Linguistics Olympiad in Bulgaria this July.

The results of the national final of the All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad will be released next week. Sample puzzles from the Olympiad can be downloaded at https://ailo.adaptcentre.ie/sample-puzzles/