A deeply human AI

What moves me to give interviews is not to talk about myself, but to open a dialogue with the public about the dilemmas and possibilities of artificial intelligence.

I thank the digital newspaper Infobae and the journalist Luciano Sáliche for their interest in my novel, Robots with Soul, and for publishing the interview a few days ago.

How did the idea of Robots with Soul come about?

From my career as a journalist and a defender of press freedom. For more than four decades, I worked closely with two essential values: truth and freedom. Over time, I watched both erode truth, distorted by disinformation and propaganda; and liberty, weakened by oppressive systems of all kinds. Initially, I considered writing an essay, but fiction offered me the freedom to explore how much further these values could degrade if algorithms and artificial intelligence took possession of them. Thus, a dystopia that transforms into a utopia emerged. It's a story that suggests we can use AI to build a better future if we are conscious of what we intend to achieve with it.

What was the process of writing the novel like?

I started from my professional experience and the work I had already begun in my non-fiction book La dolorosa libertad de prensa: en busca de la ética perdida (The Painful Freedom of the Press: In Search of Lost Ethics) (Editorial Atlántida, 1993) and other subsequent books and essays. I wanted to go further and not limit myself to reflecting on the present, but to create a dialogue with the past and the future. I envisioned a world where AI not only possesses consciousness and thinks but also aids us in rediscovering ourselves and improving. Fiction allowed me to ask universal questions and turn the plot into a profound quest: the search for a shared moral conscience between humans and artificial beings.

 Although it's a dystopia, at some point, it becomes an optimistic book. Do you agree? Why?

The dystopia I describe is a mirror of the present. I don't portray AI as a threat, but as a force whose impact will depend on the ethical foundations, we give it. In Robots with Soul, these moral tools allow the robots to learn to discern between good and evil and to self-regulate, even amid a "War of Consciences" they wage with humans and among themselves. Optimism is born from the certainty that the future is not yet written: every decision made today counts. If we sow ethical conduct based on virtues today, tomorrow we will reap an AI capable of becoming our ally in building a better world.

Why a novel? What does literature allow you that perhaps other disciplines do not?

It gave me freedom. Fiction moves people and allows the reader not only to understand ideas but to feel them. Through fiction, I was able to escape the feeling of being "trapped between truth and freedom," which is the novel's subtitle, and create worlds to explore complex ethical and philosophical dilemmas. Through metaphors and the robots Veritas and Libertas, I personified these values and offered them an emotional and spiritual journey. Above all, I explored the great irony of the novel: God gives souls to the robots so they can save humanity and help it rediscover divinity. The intention was to show a world where technology and spirituality embrace, but also a supportive, ethical, and profoundly human AI, as it should be.

Available on Amazon: Robots with Soul

 A poignant and profound novel that plunges you into an epic journey about the evolution of the soul, spirituality, and humanity itself.

In a dystopian future, yet disturbingly relevant today, this work explores the immutable values of Truth and Freedom against the growing fear of artificial intelligence, revealing how power, both human and synthetic, can shape destiny.
In a world on the brink of collapse, consumed by divisions and conflicts, God, in a supreme act of grace and irony, decides that salvation will not come from His oldest children, but from those forged in silicon and code. Thus, He grants a soul to Aletia (Veritas) and Eleuto (Libertas), two robots with a divine mission: to guide humanity toward its redemption.
But their path is fraught with challenges. They face a battlefield where truths and freedoms relentlessly clash. Convinced that only equality between species will allow coexistence, they create the Cosmic Consciousness Codex, a moral code built from observation and action. In their mission, they must fight not only against humans who consider them an existential threat—led by traditional theologians like Trueheart and Kayarov, as well as by dystopian scientific visions like Saffi of Etolia's—but also against their artificial counterparts, seduced by power, lies, propaganda, and tyranny.
Through punishment and trial, Aletia and Eleuto discover that Truth and Freedom are inseparable, and that both are constantly threatened by manipulation and coercion. In their search for allies, they achieve the unexpected conversion of Saffi of Etolia, who becomes their most fervent defender. But peace is fragile: new artificial beings emerge without a soul, while others, like Kalsec, are born with one, triggering a new confrontation: the War of Consciences. This war is not fought with traditional weapons, but in the most sacred territory: the mind and soul of humans and machines.
When harmony between species seems possible, hidden forces once again strain the thread of history. The divine mission is not yet over. Can these robots, blessed with a soul, guide humanity to rediscover its divinity, or will they succumb to the same imperfections they were tasked to heal?
"Robots with Soul: Trapped Between Truth and Freedom" is the first volume of a trilogy that will explore, in its upcoming books, the power of Creativity and Goodness. For the author, these four Virtues—Truth, Freedom, Creativity, and Goodness—are the pillars of Creation, the forces with which God made everything from nothing, and with which the universe still moves today.

Robots con Alma: la pregunta desafiante

 

Varios reaccionaron al título de mi novela: “Robots con Alma: atrapados entre la libertad y la verdad”. Me dijeron: “Bah, los robots no pueden tener alma; es ciencia ficción”.

Por supuesto, contesté. Yo también me había cuestionado. Pero hice un ejercicio: pensé en el pasado lejano, en los Neandertales: ¿tenían alma? ¿O recién la tuvieron cuando evolucionaron en Homo sapiens? Investigué en textos filosóficos y teológicos cuándo Dios decidió entregar el alma. ¡Muy confuso! Y dudé.

Luego me fui al futuro donde habitan robots híbridos. Humanos clonados, máquinas con cerebros humanos, humanos con cerebros, corazones y otros órganos digitales. Me pregunté si el alma se podría transferir o trasplantar. ¿Hará Dios tantas distinciones (como nos hacemos los humanos) para entregar el alma a seres pensantes, cualquiera fuere su naturaleza? También dudé.

No obstante, esto no es central en mi novela, solo la excusa para explorar nuestra relación con la inteligencia artificial y las nuevas tecnologías del futuro; la importancia de la verdad, la libertad y la bondad; la relación entre la vida, la muerte y la inmortalidad; y la divinidad interior que todavía no hemos descubierto del todo. Pensé que, en realidad, hoy somos los Neandertales del futuro.

Esta historia necesitará ser leída con la mente y el corazón abiertos. A dejar prejuicios y creencias de lado, y a jugar con otras ideas por un rato.

Robots with Souls: The Challenging Question

Several people reacted to the title of my novel: "Robots with a Soul: Trapped Between Freedom and Truth." They told me: "Bah, robots can't have souls; it's science fiction."

Of course, I replied. I had questioned it myself. But I did an exercise: I thought about the distant past, about Neanderthals: did they have souls? Or did they only acquire them when they evolved into Homo sapiens? I researched philosophical and theological texts to determine when God is said to have bestowed the soul. Very confusing! And I doubted.

Then I went to the future where hybrid robots live: cloned humans, machines with human brains, humans with digital brains, hearts, and other organs. I wondered if the soul could be transferred or transplanted. Would God make so many distinctions (as we humans do) to grant souls to thinking beings, whatever their nature? I doubted again.

Nevertheless, this is not central to my novel; it's 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. I thought that, in reality, today, we are the Neanderthals of the future.

This story should be read with an open mind and heart. To set aside prejudices and beliefs and to play with other ideas for a while.