Lyra McKee spirit celebrated at AI symposium in Belfast
The challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) would have excited Lyra McKee, her sister Nicola McKee Corner told a symposium in Belfast at the weekend.
Recalling Lyra's love of gadgets and technology Nicola emphasised that her sister's success as a journalist was rooted in her personal qualities.
The second Lyra McKee Symposium in the Crescent Arts Centre marked a new partnership between the NUJ and the Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics.
Lyra McKee, a Belfast branch member, was killed on 18 April 2019 in the Creggan area of Derry while observing a riot as a freelance journalist.
A digital journalist and early, proficient user of social media platforms, Lyra was an accomplished journalist, researcher and campaigner.
The symposium was chaired by broadcaster, writer, and chair of Belfast and District branch Anne Hailes, who challenged the panel and audience with the question "AI and Journalism – Threats or Opportunities?"
Anne Hailes speaks at the symposium.
© Kevin Cooper
Speakers included: Ciaran O’Connor, Dublin Institute of Strategic Dialogue senior analyst; Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary; Professor Charlie Beckett, JournalismAI director at the London School of Economics (via a pre-recorded video from London); Jude Copeland, legal technology specialist in Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Legal Technology Group; Stiofan Bruce, media student studying journalism at Belfast Metropolitan College.
Stiofan Bruce speaks at the symposium.
© Kevin Cooper
General Secretary Laura Davison praised the branch for organising the event and expressed the hope that the ideas discussed might form part of wider discussons within the NUJ.
The Lyra McKee Symposium panel from left-to-right, top-to-bottom: Jude Copeland, Stiofan Bruce, Ciarán Hanna, Ciarán O'Connor, Seamus Dooley, Nicola McKee Corner, Anne Hailes, Laura Davison.
© Kevin Cooper