AI has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. Especially with the rapid development of generative AI technologies, AI as well as ML, has come to the forefront across a broad spectrum of human activities, including research. Applications based on LLMs have captured the attention of society in an unprecedentedly short time, sparking discussions on their potential uses. The AI phenomenon has dramatically infiltrated nearly all industries, significantly transforming how they function. AI is a great opportunity, as well as a major challenge, for nearly all scientific disciplines studied across the institutes of the CAS. In the context of research, the effective use of AI/ML methods can accelerate many aspects of the research process, while also providing new stimuli for the “creative component” of research activities – similar to what occurred with the development of formal and mathematical foundations in many scientific disciplines. AI plays a role in supporting research activities (e.g., project management in R&D etc.). AI can be viewed from many different perspectives, ranging from specific approaches for solving particular problems to more general considerations regarding AI’s impacts across different sectors.
The program AI: Artificial Intelligence for Science and Society responds to these developments: its goal is to support not only research and development in the area of general AI and machine learning methods but also the application of AI methods in various institutes across all three scientific domains to address problems in a wide range of fields, as well as research into the societal aspects of AI. The program also encompasses a set of cross-cutting AI activities across the institutes, strengthening inter-institutional collaboration both within the Academy and with other research organizations outside of it, including international partnerships. It also creates the necessary infrastructure for collaboration with the commercial sector and public administration, as well as for knowledge transfer in the AI field. The program does not overlook opportunities related to education and training of the younger generation, nor issues of resilience and security within the Czech research space. This is reflected in the project’s structure of five research topics (plus one support topic for program coordination).
The program will also contribute to enhancing the perception of the CAS as a key player in the AI field, both within the Czechia and beyond.
