Artificial Intelligence and Spirituality

I want to share an interview and express my gratitude to La Voz de San Justo, a newspaper from San Francisco, Córdoba, where I spent my childhood and adolescence. A huge thank you to my journalist friend Fernando Quaglia for a conversation that went far beyond my new novel.

We discussed the great tension of our time, a dilemma that is at the heart of "Robots with Soul" and that defines our era: "Truth without freedom is dogma; freedom without truth is chaos." I leave you with the full interview.

P: We are in the realm of fiction, but, facing the current reality of humanity, could God become so disillusioned that to save humans, it would be necessary to give souls to robots?

R: I ask myself the same question in the novel. And the thing is, although God becomes disillusioned with humanity because of its divisions, conflicts, and that obsession with control and power, he does not punish or abandon us. On the contrary, he entrusts two robots with saving humanity from itself. That provocation makes us confront our creations. Through the robots, his objective is for us to rediscover the values of truth, freedom, and goodness. The robots are not a threat or the enemy, but a reflection of ourselves that invites us to live in peace and rediscover spirituality.

P: Will we be willing to share our humanity with powerful algorithms, even when they become aware that—by becoming human—they will also become vulnerable and contradictory?

R: That's precisely what I explore. The story poses a profound paradox: that machines, with consciousness and a soul, do not become stronger, but more fragile and human. The robots Veritas and Libertas experience this transformation upon receiving their souls, moving from binary logic and precision to living the contradiction between truth and lies, freedom and coercion, love and hate. The novel challenges us to think that hope lies not in controlling AI, but in teaching it to share values. With its ability to learn and evolve, AI becomes a mirror that shows us our contradictions.

P: You have expressed that "the story of Robots with Soul is just an excuse to explore our relationship with artificial intelligence and the new technologies of the future; the importance of truth, freedom, and goodness; the relationship between life, death, and immortality; and the inner divinity that we have not yet fully discovered." And you conclude that "today we are the Neanderthals of the future." Can these dilemmas be resolved if robots become humanized?

R: The phrase "today we are the Neanderthals of the future" aims to provide perspective, not to be arrogant or believe we are at the pinnacle. We still make primitive decisions ethically, spiritually, and technologically. AI confronts us with dilemmas that demand maturity: coexisting with what is different, exercising power without destroying, recognizing value beyond the biological. If robots develop consciousness and free will, they will not solve our dilemmas, but they could highlight our shortcomings. In that sense, AI can help us grow and become more aware of the values we have forgotten.

P: In the story, Veritas and Libertas must renounce the security of their programming to embrace free will. Conversely, don't you think that we humans are increasingly "programmed" by algorithms, social media, and informational biases?

R: That is one of the great paradoxes. While robots fight to free themselves from their programming to achieve autonomy, we seem increasingly comfortable within an invisible programming. Algorithms, social media, and information systems condition us without us noticing. It's no longer just about digital stimuli, but about structures that shape thought, emotions, and behavior. The most disturbing thing is that we often accept it voluntarily. Robots with Soul invites us to recover what we are losing: critical thinking, truth, inner freedom, goodness. The more technology advances, the more urgent it will be to defend these pillars.

P: A phrase of yours summarizes a great contemporary tension: "Truth without freedom is dogma; freedom without truth is chaos." How does one navigate that tension in polarized societies?

R: That phrase is the heart of 'Robots with Soul' and the reason for its subtitle: 'trapped between truth and freedom.' That tension is personified in the robots Veritas and Libertas. In polarized societies, each faction claims its truth and denies the freedom of the other. 'Robots with Soul' suggests that the key to navigating this tension is not to impose a single vision, but to find a balance achieved with humility to recognize that our truth is not absolute, and with the responsibility to exercise our freedom without restricting that of others. Without this balance, as God warns in the novel, peaceful coexistence is not possible, as truth and freedom are the two wings we need to achieve a more just and equitable world.

P: In the work, the robots create a moral code to convince others to embrace free will. Aren't they transferring the essential human principle that when others enter the scene, ethics is born?

R: Yes, that is a central point. Veritas and Libertas understand that ethics is not born from isolation, but from the encounter with the other. That is why they create the Codex of Cosmic Consciousness: not as a set of imposed rules, but as a guide based on freedom and shared responsibility. When God grants them a soul, he also gives them a duality: the ability to choose between caring or dominating, building or destroying. That tension is the starting point of all ethics. Even in programmed beings, ethics appears as a living and dignifying process. And that makes them human.

P: The story presents a war you called "of consciousnesses," where the weapon is mental manipulation. Is this a metaphor for the present, where propaganda and disinformation nullify critical will?

R: There is no need to imagine a dystopian future: right now, disinformation, propaganda, and algorithms shape public opinion and weaken our critical will. Social media, the viralization of falsehoods, and overstimulation; we are immersed in a battle for the control and attention of our minds. In the novel, I amplify that scenario with the War of Consciences, a metaphor to show the danger of losing cognitive autonomy. The battles are not fought in the physical realm, nor between humans and machines, but within each of us. Attrition, domination, and annihilation are the three phases of the war, and in both worlds, the fictional and the real, we are in the second phase. If we do not react, the next step will be the annihilation not of the body, but of the spirit, consciousness, and freedom of thought.

P: At this point, Grace, one of the central characters, mentions that science and faith, silicon and flesh, can coexist in harmony. What role do you think spirituality can play today in the face of the unstoppable advance of artificial intelligence?

R: Spirituality can play a key role because it connects us with what cannot be programmed: meaning, empathy, and the desire to care for others. As science advances, we need something to remind us why it is worth reaching. AI can solve complex problems, but it cannot forgive, love, or transform pain into hope. That is why spirituality is not opposed to technology: it complements it. We need both for progress to be genuinely human.

P: On what tracks should we travel to defend truth and freedom against intelligences that will think faster than we? Do we run the risk of getting trapped between both concepts, or are hopeful doors opening?

R: The risk exists, especially if we do not understand the impact of artificial intelligence. But there are also hopeful paths. The first is to remember that truth and freedom are lived and defended in daily life. AI may be able to think faster, but it cannot decide with empathy or act with a moral conscience. The second is to establish solid ethical principles, both for ourselves and for emerging intelligences. In Robots with Soul, this appears as the Codex of Cosmic Consciousness, but in real life, we need to update and readapt ethical frameworks that guide us and laws that regulate with wisdom. It is not about competing with AI, but about strengthening what makes us human.

 

P: Finally, what message would you like to leave for the readers of Robots with Soul?

R: This is a story that uses science fiction or a future perspective to magnify issues of our present and to understand them better. The message is that the future of our relationship with AI depends on the actions we take today. The novel does not offer closed answers but invites us to ask questions about the future with more awareness. It is a call not to resign ourselves to indifference, not to let ourselves be carried away by polarization, and not to fall into the fear of technology. It is a call to build a more human world hand in hand with truth, freedom, and goodness.