In his play "R.U.R." from 1920, Czech author Karel Čapek wrote about robots that are used for heavy labour but eventually become smarter than humans, and rise up against them. The subject of robots in technology and literature is maybe more relevant than ever in our time, and was discussed during the evening, from technological,  literary and societal perspective, by Michal Pěchouček, AI professor, Luis De Miranda, philosopher and Kristina Hård, novelist. At the beginning of the event, the participants were addressed by Ambassador Jiří Šitler.
Michal Pěchouček is an AI professor, R&D executive and serial entrepreneur. He has been active in the field of cutting edge AI since the late nineties, and founded the iconic Artificial Intelligence Center at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Michal have co-founded Cognitive Security, one of the first machine learning startups for cybersecurity, AgentFly Technologies, a drone technology firm and BlindSpot Solutions, an AI/ML high-end consultancy. Michal has got his master degree from the University of Edinburgh and his PhD from Czech Technical University. He has been working at several leading universities, such as the University of Calgary or University of Southern California. In 2014 he was listed in New Europe 100 list of most innovative minds in Central and Eastern Europe.
Luis De Miranda is a philosopher who was born in Portugal in 1971 and has since lived in many places over the world. His philosophical essays concern societal issues, historical methods, technological devices, and process philosophy. He has written a widely reviewed and influential cultural history of digital devices and automata.
Kristina Hård is a Swedish novelist who has written several books in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Her debut novel was the book "Alba", and since then she has written three more novels as well as books on computer science.
The event was met with huge interest and the venue was fully booked, with more than 130 attendees from academia, company representatives, students and general public. The panel and the following lively discussion with the audience was held in English and moderated by Patrik Schylström, librarian.
Later in the evening, a joint vernissage of the exhibition "100 Years From Now" by Czech artist Daniel Špaček and of the Czech Innovation Expo took place. The exhibitions will be on show at the library until December 3rd. On the following day, Prof. Pěchouček visited the Department of Robotics, Perception, and Learning of the Tekniska Högskolan to discuss potential Czech - Swedish cooperation in the AI area.

A collaboration between the Stockholm Public Library, The Czech Embassy and the Czech Centre.