Vodafone Ireland has said their new AI-powered self-service assistant,TOBi, is working hard to master the Donegal accent!
The communications giant is addressing uniquely Irish challenges through TOBi’s ongoing development, as it constantly learns to understand Irish tones and Irishisms.
“With three in five survey respondents acknowledging their own difficulties in understanding certain Irish accents (particularly Kerry, Cork, and Donegal), TOBi is being specially trained to recognise regional dialects and local expressions, from ‘banjaxed’ to ‘acting the maggot’,” a Vodafone spokesperson said.
One in three people believe AI can understand Irishisms, such as “grand” or “c’mere to me” – though “banjaxed” (60%), “sucking diesel” (59%) and “acting the maggot” (52%) were named the most confusing for both AI and people alike to understand. Gen Z and Dubliners are the most confident that AI like TOBi is catching on to these Irishisms.
The spokesperson added TOBi now resolves 60% of customer service queries without the need to talk to someone.
Vodafone’s new AI assistant trying to master Donegal accent! was last modified: August 14th, 2025 by Staff Writer
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