Artificial Intelligence and Women Researchers in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Artificial intelligence as a research area has been continuously growing for several decades. Many applications were developed in various domains. Medicine and health care have attracted more intensive attention thanks to rapid technological development that has accelerated generation of large volumes of data requiring intelligent analysis and evaluation. This article illustrates, through examples of women researchers and selected AI projects in medicine, the wide spectrum of applications developed during the last fifteen years in the Czech Republic, and in particular at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Women researchers played an important and irreplaceable role since the advent of AI research in the Czech Republic. By their example, they motivated many young female students to join the community and start their research career in the AI area. They frequently participated in research projects led by the senior women researchers. The presented overview of projects illustrates the diversity of the medical area and the potential of AI methods that can be used for solving data-and knowledge-intensive problems. We briefly touch on the AI study programs. In conclusion, we point out the future challenges in AI and its applications in medicine and health care.