An Post invites everyone to design a St Patrick’s Day Card - with the help of AI

7 March 2024

• An Post’s AI assisted, digitally created card is the first in a new generation of exciting postal products enabling customers to choose exactly what they want

 

• All St Patrick’s Day card designs will be printed and posted anywhere in the world

 
7^th March, 2024:  An Post is inviting everyone to sample the wonders of Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI (Artificial Intelligence) Service by using this exciting new technology to help design their own unique St Patrick’s Day card, complete with personalised greeting, and have it printed and posted to a loved one anywhere in the world*. 
An Post and Microsoft are joining forces to give everyone the chance to experience a positive and practical use of the latest generative AI technology.  An Post’s Design-Your-Own-Card trial is available at anpost.com from today until Monday 19th March.  An Post will transform your unique digital design into a high quality physical card, envelope it and post it to any address at home or abroad for just €4.00.
The process of designing a unique St Patrick’s Day card is simple: 
 

• Go to anpost.com and register as a user.   
• You’ll be given clear instructions on how to start designing your card by choosing from a selection of St Patrick’s Day keywords ranging from Castles, Dancing and Sport to Shamrocks and St Patrick himself.  Then AI services from Microsoft will do their work and present you with a unique design based on your chosen keywords.  Customers have three ‘goes’ at designing their card before deciding which one they want to use.
• Once the design is finalised, you move on to the personalised greeting to go inside the card.  You may write your own, or request Azure OpenAI Service to produce a Greeting or Verse (e.g. a Limerick) using whatever particular names or words you’d like to include.  This will be generated by Microsoft’s speedy technology.
• When you are happy with your card, you simply fill in your own name and address details, and those of the person to receive the card (full correct address and postcode, please) and pay €4.00 at the secure checkout. 
• An Post will transform your design into a top quality printed greeting card and post it off to your chosen family member or friend in Ireland or anywhere abroad by priority post.

 
Des Morley, An Post’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer explained: “We see AI as an exciting tool to support our staff and operations in their everyday work and to help develop new products for customers.  We thought it would be fun to give everyone the opportunity to see first-hand what AI can do by creating their own unique, personalised card to be posted to family or friends worldwide.  We’re delighted to collaborate with Microsoft to make this possible for customers and we’ll all be interested to get feedback on the whole experience and what the recipients make of their cards – each one a unique artistic creation.”
 
Anne Sheehan, General Manager, Microsoft Ireland said: "An Post's innovative use of Azure OpenAI Service demonstrates the power of technology to connect people in meaningful ways. This collaboration empowers individuals to express their creativity and share heartfelt messages with loved ones around the world, exemplifying the transformative potential of AI in enhancing everyday experiences. I can't wait to see what people here and abroad come up with – I'm sure it'll get very creative and, most importantly, a lot of fun."

This Design-Your-Own-AI-Card experience is only available for a limited time - from now until Monday 19^th March.  An Post’s product innovation team will use the learnings from customer feedback to develop more new ‘hybrid-mail’ products over the coming months. 
Any abusive or obscene content will result in the design being deleted by An Post.

*St Patrick’s Day cards can be sent to any country worldwide where regular, priority (air mail) mail services are operating as normal.