What prompted him to write Robots with soul After decades dedicated to journalism and freedom of the press?
My novel is born from a deep frustration and the desire to find a new path. After forty years defending the freedom of the press, I realized that, despite our efforts, society is still trapped in the same conflicts and vices. The political leadership seems increasingly dehumanized; Citizens, locked in information bubbles, and truth and freedom, turned into unstable land. In that context, artificial intelligence appeared as a new challenge, but also as an opportunity. I wondered if, instead of accentuating our defects, AI could help us recover essential values and our humanity. The novel is a search for answers, an exploration of whether AI can become a mirror that confronts us with what we have forgotten.
The novel is presented as a “dystopia with faith.” Why did you choose that approach instead of an apocalyptic or technophobic, so common in current science fiction?
I chose that approach because I do not believe that the future is written or that human behavior inevitably takes us to the Apocalypse. The risks of AI are real, but the answer should not be fatalism. Robots with soul It is a dystopia because it shows a technologically advanced world, but morally weakened, vulnerable to lies, misinformation, tyranny, corruption and indolence. Even so, I have faith that we can change that course. I hope that an imbued with ethics will become a tool to help us be better. The novel is a reminder that the possibility of a “second genesis” is always in our hands.
In the novel imagines a cooperation between humanity and based on shared values. What values do you consider essential for that alliance?
The truth, freedom, goodness and creativity, virtues with which God shaped the universe, are the compass. Unlike the three laws of the Robotics of Asimov, which seek to protect the human and control the robot, the Codex of Cosmic Consciousness It raises an ethic of shared responsibility. The AI in the novel is self -regulated and establishes principles to counteract evils such as Digital Maleficencethe algorithmic falsehoodthe Technological tyrannyhe intellectual stagnationthe Technological greed and the artificial supremacy. In essence, the message is clear: only with mutual respect for ethical principles an alliance between humans and artificial intelligences can flourish.
He states that AI could help us “re -educate us”. Doesn’t that run the risk of delegating to a machine the moral responsibility that is typical of the human being?
It is a risk, and the novel explores it in depth. The problem is not the machine, but what we decided to do with it. The proposal is not to delegate our morals, but to see AI as a mirror that forces us to confront our own failures. Seeing AI striving to build a moral code, humans realize that they have abandoned that task. The novel recalls that ethics is not a set of norms, but a conscious choice. And if an AI can learn to be ethical, maybe we can motivate us to defend our moral autonomy.
What does “self -consciousness” understand in an AI and what would differentiate it from human consciousness, in terms of freedom, empathy or transcendence?
In the novel, self -awareness is the soul: the divine gift to which robots can aspire, but only if they accept their mortality and prioritize good over evil. Without that condition, AI can be aware – understand, reason, learn – but cannot discern genuinely between good and evil. It cannot transcend. The trip of Veritas and Libertasthe protagonists, is a metaphor of that transit: self -awareness is not a technical improvement, but an openness to vulnerability. The soul does not make them perfect, it makes them human: capable of loving, doubting, suffering and choosing. Self -awareness is not a technical evolution, but a spiritual revelation.
The novel introduces the idea that God gives a soul to robots. What does “the soul” mean in this context? A symbol of humanity, a moral code, a divine spark … or everything at the same time?
All at once, and more. In Robots with soulthe soul is what gives meaning to life: the engine that drives an artificial being to transcend its programming. It is the bridge between logic and wisdom, between digital and spiritual. For me, the soul is the key to true self -consciousness, which allows genuinely distinguishing between good and evil. And in the novel, the robots discover that this gift has a price: accept that its existence is finite. Only then begins his true trip to the purpose, towards the meaning, towards the human.
Do you consider that great technological platforms have a historical debt with journalism? How should their democratic responsibility assume?
Definitely. They have extracted the value of the journalistic content without giving it back, weakening its sustainability. If democracy really cares, they should help create a virtuous circle that guarantees the health of independent journalism. Without counterweights, AI – as any power – can lead to authoritarianism. In the novel, I take this idea to the extreme with the War of consciences. My message is clear: AI is the future, but only with ethical counterweights – like journalism – we will avoid falling into dystopia.
There is a scientific, ethical and political tension that asks to stop the development of AI. Do you think the solution is in regular, educate … or both?
The solution is not to stop, but to channel. The novel does not promote technophobia, but responsibility. Regular is necessary, but insufficient. We need ethical education to cultivate individual discernment. He Codex of Cosmic Consciousnesscreated by robots in the novel, it is not a rigid manual, but a moral guide. The solution passes through both paths: wise rules for technology and a more conscious humanity.
He has mentioned that this is the first novel of a trilogy. What intention with these works? Will they be complementary?
Yes, they are complementary. Robots with soul It is the first and is focused on truth and freedom. The second book, which I am already writing, will revolve around creativity and spirituality. The third will focus on goodness. My intention is that they work as a metaphor for moral climate change: if we do not act now to cultivate our virtues, we will put the future of the next generations at risk. These values are not abstract concepts, but concrete tools to build a more human future, regardless of how much technology surrounds us.
“Journalism is the last defense against political or technological tyrannies”
What was the turning point that led him to wonder if a robot could have a soul? Is that question born from a theological concern or an ethical dilemma?
The turning point was a paradox: while humans seemed programmed by biases and algorithms, losing critical thinking, AI began to show a surprising learning capacity. Then I asked myself: “What would happen if God decided to give the soul to the robots?” The question is both theological and ethical. Theological, because it challenges the notion that the soul is exclusive to the human being; Ethics, because it forces us to think if an AI can be overcome not only technologically, but also in moral terms.
Given the current digital manipulation scenarios, echo cameras and polarizing algorithms, how can you imagine that journalism can be an ethical counterweight again? Does humanity imply also evolving?
My experience in journalism has taught me that, in the face of digital manipulation and polarizing algorithms, our role must be more active than ever. It is not enough to inform: you have to decontaminate the public debate, disassemble the hate speeches disguised as opinion and organized lies. Independent journalism is the last defense against tyrannies, whether political or technological. But it is also necessary for humanity to evolve. In the novel, I propose that, immersed in this age, we have become more dogmatic. Journalism, like humanity, must look in that mirror and recover the lost.
The novel states that the problem is not that machines dominate us, but that we give them our conscience. How to resist that voluntary assignment in a world addicted to comfort?
That is the heart of the conflict. In a world addicted to comfort, to the immediacy and the algorithms that enclose us, resist means recovering critical thinking. In the novel, the robots fight to emancipate their programming, while humans seem voluntarily to digital manipulation. Robots with soul It is a call to not abdicate our ability to choose, discern and act with moral responsibility.
