Innovative Prague XXVI
Prague is not only an amazing historical city with a wealth of monuments, excellent gastronomy, cordial residents, and a wide range of events. It is also a modern and innovative science hub. Prague excels in many fields, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, biomedicine, low-carbon technologies, data technologies and selected creative industries, providing ideal opportunities for holding conventions and conferences with the matching topics.
The 26th edition of Innovative Prague will take us high above the horizon, thanks to innovations in the aviation sector, introduce innovations in nuclear research and robotics, thanks to which Czech medicine is developing considerably, and show what currently improved language models allow.
Up to the skies? This time no further than above the horizon
Prague's aviation masters scored in a contest again – this time with autonomous drones zigzagging between obstacles solely with a help of AI. The drones can be useful, for example, for firefighters or paramedics. It was with these drones that Czech scientists from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University and the startup Fly4Future won their qulification to the Autonomous Racing League championship in Abu Dhabi, which is one of the greatest in its field. You can read how the Czech rescue services are already working with these drones on the SeznamZprávy.cz website.
Another scientist from the Czech Technical University – Teodor Beneš – is also interested in flying, albeit from a different point of view. While still studying at CTU, he is developing a method of improving airline logistics with the help of AI. The new system that is already in testing operation at the Prague Airport can presignify a revolution in airport operations management.
Another project – Tendera – has also originated from aviation. The Prague-based company CS Soft has developed a new system for evaluating tenders, built on the basis of large language models trained by the company itself, as reported by the news website e15.cz. Tenders in aviation are characterized by a large number of specifications, which take up to hundreds of hours to process, but Tendera should be able to do it in just an hour.
Robotization in medicine is no longer the music of the future
Robotization in medicine has made significant progress again. Thanks to cameras, robots have long had the ability of what we could call sight. Now, thanks to artificial skin and tactile sensors, robots also gain a sense of touch. In addition, this shift in science will also contribute to the production of more sensitive prostheses. At the Czech Technical University In Prague, for example, thanks to artificial skin, they are developing the concept of so-called development robotics, where a robot can perceive what its "eyes" cannot see thanks to its skin - that is, if it hits something in its surroundings, for example. The robot basically learns in the same way as a small child going through various stages of development. More detailed information is available on SeznamZprávy.cz.
However, the development of robotics in Prague does not focus only on the physical traits of humans, but also on their psyche. The Prague-based company BTL recently introduced the robotic psychotherapist Exomind, which can utilize electromagnetic impulses to improve people's mood, effectively fighting, for example, depression. The CzechCrunch website writes about the success of Exomind beyond the borders of the Czech Republic.
Czechs improve language models
On the international scene, new language models have been developed thanks to AI, but the three most prominent Czech AI scientists have decided to take a slightly different path and initially improve existing models such as ChatGPT by training them several hundred times more efficiently. The plans of the new venture called BottleCap AI are reported by Forbes.cz.
Improving the existing tools - that is also one of the effects of the elite Amazon Nova AI Challenge, in which contestants are tasked with developing secure and reliable software. The Prague team from CTU – AlquistCoder – composed of students and researchers, was even selected among the top ten university teams participating in the Amazon Nova AI Challenge. According to information from the CzechCrunch.cz website, the team will focus on developing a model that can create trustworthy programming code (for example, in Python).
However, when using AI, Czechs do not only excel in language models or programming codes, but also expand application of AI into less expected areas of everyday life. According to Forbes magazine, Artie – artificial intelligence from the creators of the Czech startup ArtMaster – will start teaching music this summer. Its advantage should be affordability and an individual approach to pupils and their needs.
According to information from the VědaVýzkum.cz server, the Academy of Sciences' program called "AI: Artificial Intelligence for Science and Society", which will involve half of the institutes of the Academy under the lead of the Institute of Computer Science, should also take care of ensuring that AI research is not lost in the world.
Czechs confirm their strong international position in nuclear research
According to the VědaVýzkum.cz website, a recent analysis has confirmed the position of the Czech Republic as a strong player in international nuclear research, with Czech scientific institutions participating in 60% of funded projects under the Euratom programme between 2021 and 2023 and receiving a total of €13 million for further research into nuclear energy.
Proof of Prague's innovativeness in this field is the latest work of Michal Křelin from the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University, who, as part of the Czech-Dutch startup QuDef, addresses the question of potential threats from emerging quantum computers. More information about the future need for data protection is provided by the Forbes.cz website.
Would you like to learn more interesting facts? Browse through the previous three issues of Innovative Prague: