“The ‘last invention of humanity’ doesn’t have to mean the end, but a new symbiosis: from now on we will create everything in a human–AI tandem. Petr Mára’s lecture shows where we are technologically, how we got here, and what AI is changing right now. The point is simple: adapt quickly and wisely.”
Three generations of computers and exponential growth
From the floppy disk through desktop PCs and the first internet, which only ‘copied’ newspapers and the Yellow Pages, we have moved to the era of a phone in your pocket. The smartphone and touch interface were not merely replacements, but triggered the second wave of the internet with social networks and entirely new services. Capacities are growing exponentially and software distribution is instantaneous, so today there is less time to adapt than ever before.
The third generation is heading toward spatial computing: the computer ‘puts on’ glasses and surrounds us in space. Without a keyboard and mouse, the natural interface becomes voice, gaze, and an AI assistant that sees what we see. This changes not only how we work with information, but also where and when we can use it.
Spatial interfaces and smart glasses in practice
Head‑up displays draw a navigation line directly onto the road, and affordable headsets will enable shared 3D presentations or meetings with faithful scans of faces and voice in space. Education is shifting from ‘reading about’ to ‘experiencing it’: 3D memories, virtual environments, playing chess on a virtual board, or looking into anatomy at a one‑to‑one scale help us understand and remember better. Ordinary glasses with a camera and AI can already answer the question ‘what am I looking at right now’, translate a foreign language in real time, display notes, or provide navigation while exercising. Not every device is for the masses right now, but the trend is clear: functions are moving into unobtrusive forms that look like ordinary glasses.
AI beyond text: multimodality, agents, and the rules of the game
AI is no longer just a text generator: it translates voice‑to‑voice in real time, creates realistic images and videos, and can prepare a digital avatar that will speak a foreign language in your voice. The rapid improvement in quality is changing filmmaking, marketing, and customer service, while also bringing new possibilities for learning, coaching, and accessible ‘therapy’. AI is moving into pendants, glasses, and phones that understand the camera image, find instructions, sift through emails, and find solutions without switching between apps.
The biggest leap is the era of agents: you set a goal and AI does the whole ‘end‑to‑end’ — for example, finds out the time of your talk at a conference and books a hotel. It saves hours of work, but raises the bar for accountability, security, and transparency. Risks include deepfake videos, fake news, and identity misuse, so rules and labeling of AI content are arriving at the level of states and platforms. The best defense is digital literacy: lifelong learning, training in working with AI, and cultivated communication — so that we ‘skate to where the puck will be’ and don’t end up like brands that missed the change.
