CEVAST is a new hope for technology ethics, says Forbes magazine
20. 09. 2019
The Karel Čapek Center for Values in Science and Technology (CEVAST), formed last year under the Czech Academy of Sciences, is quickly gaining a reputation of a foremost European institution dealing with emerging issues in technology ethics. Most recently, Forbes magazine has taken notice of CEVAST, praising it for „immediately convening important meetings in artificial intelligence and robot ethics“ and calling it “a new hope in Prague.”
The Center, bearing a name of the legendary Czech writer who invented the word “robot,” was established in October 2018 as a mutual effort of three institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Institute of Philosophy, Institute of State and Law, Institute of Computer Science) and the Faculty of Science at Charles University. Besides the ethics of robots, the Center deals, for example, with issues connected with autonomous vehicles, i.e. self-driving cars.
Forbes magazine has now conducted an in-depth interview with the Center’s co-founders, philosophers David Černý and Tomáš Hříbek, who discussed, for example, ethical dilemmas that need to be solved before self-driving vehicles are put to use, differences between European and American approaches to the ethics of autonomous driving, as well as the future plans of the Centre.
The whole article with the interview can be freely accessed here.
Original Czech text prepared by: Milan Pohl and Markéta Růžičková, Department of Media Communication of the Head Office of the CAS
Photo: Storyblocks.com
Read also
- Wildfires on the Rise in Europe and Set to Double by 2100. What Can We Do?
- The CAS Photogenic Science Contest Invites Entries
- The CAS Launches New Research Programs as Part of Its Strategy AV21
- Academy Assembly – Thirteen Priorities to Boost Basic and Applied Research
- We Must Prioritize Science, Czech President Petr Pavel Says on His Academy Visit
- Radomír Pánek Visits CAS Institutes, Aiming to Strengthen the Academy’s Unity
- Small but Mighty – The Enceladus Moon Is Flexing with Saturn’s Magnetic Field
- Light vs. Antibiotics – Can We Get Harmful Substances Out of Our Water?
- Better ECGs and Industrial Superlasers – Real-World Results of CAS Research
- Czech Academy of Sciences to launch a joint-stock company
The Czech Academy of Sciences (the CAS)
The mission of the CAS
The primary mission of the CAS is to conduct research in a broad spectrum of natural, technical and social sciences as well as humanities. This research aims to advance progress of scientific knowledge at the international level, considering, however, the specific needs of the Czech society and the national culture.
President of the CAS
Prof. Radomír Pánek started his first term of office in March 2025. He is a prominent Czech scientist specializing in plasma physics and nuclear fusion.