De la Revolución Industrial a la IA: El significado histórico de la nueva Encíclica papal

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:18]Pope Leo XIV has signed the first encyclical of his pontificate entitled Magnifica Humanit.

[00:00:29]Magnificent humanity, officially published by the Holy See. This document is not just a religious text; it is a global warning about the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.

[00:00:47]To understand the magnitude of this event, we must remember what an encyclical is.

[00:00:54]The word comes from the Latin encyclical circular. It is a most important letter that a pope addresses to the bishops and to all of humanity. They are not issued arbitrarily. They are published from time to time, coinciding with major turning points in history. In 1891, Leo XI published Rerum Novarum in response to the outbreak of the industrial revolution and the exploitation of workers. Today in May 2026, in the face of what many call the fourth industrial revolution, the church is once again establishing a political and ethical stance. What the Vatican is trying to do at this crucial moment is to warn that technology is not neutral and that digital power is concentrated in the hands of private corporations, of transnational companies that escape the control of states.

[00:01:52]To analyze this historical shift and what this warning means for our countries with threats of all kinds, especially for democracies, what the work of this situation means, right?, we are going to talk with Vladimir de la Cruz. With it we will make a first approach to this document that promises to shake the foundations of the global technological debate. Today is Tuesday, May 26, 2026. I am Sergio Marín Cornavaca.

[00:02:23]Friends, the table is set. Let's get started.

[00:03:02]Since 2011, political arrests have marked a history of injustice.

[00:03:08]Marvin Vargas, known as El cachorro, has spent more than 13 years in a maximum security cell for leading veterans' protests, a whole life stolen for speaking out. But this machinery of confinement reached inhuman levels in 2014 with the arrest of nine farmers from Ciudad Darío, San Isidro and San Ramón. In a trial riddled with irregularities and without respect for due process, they were sentenced to a nightmarish 113 to 133 years in prison. Accusations fabricated to bury the voices of the countryside in oblivion. These are not just files; they are fathers, brothers, and Nicaraguans who have been under arbitrary confinement for years. No nation can call itself free while its children remain imprisoned for dissenting. We demand immediate freedom for political prisoners. Not one more day in the shadows.

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[00:04:49]To address the context of this papal encyclical called Magnifica Humanitas, I welcome Vladimir de la Cruz, a man with an indisputable intellectual career.

[00:05:06]He is a distinguished historian, political analyst, university professor and former ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica to Venezuela, with a consistently sharp perspective on social processes, political transformations and major turning points in contemporary history.

[00:05:26]With Professor de la Cruz, who is one of the most authoritative voices in the region, we will use him to put this important Vatican pronouncement into historical and geopolitical perspective. Welcome back to the Round Table, Professor. It's a pleasure to have you with us.

[00:05:47]Thank you very much, Sergio, and thank you for being able to truly share with your audience on such an interesting topic as the one you propose, which is a hot topic on the table, so to speak, because it's coming up. So, you're putting us in a difficult position.

[00:06:05]That's how it is.

[00:06:07]The immediacy of a document that is extraordinary from the point of view of what Pope Leo XIII intends to address, right? that's something else. He's a daring pope.

[00:06:18]Well, he's good, he's a missionary by training, he lived in Peru and has Peruvian nationality because of his father's French origin and he has a kind of triple nationality, his mother is Spanish, his father is French and Italian. He was born in the United States, has Peruvian nationality, and was also here in Costa Rica with the Augustinians. a short time. So, he knows the Latin American world well, and that's important, and it has its characteristics that are earning the Pope a very particular sympathy, it seems to me, right? Then he just released this very important document called Magnificent Humanity, or Magnifica Humanitas, the encyclical translated into Spanish.

[00:07:11]Go on. I have a video of the Pope, about 3 minutes long, where he explains perhaps the core part of the document, which is over 100 pages long, and also a very recent document.

[00:07:29]Let me provide you and our audience with a translation of what the Pope said because I have many questions about this. Please go ahead with the video. It must be disassembled.

[00:07:47]I know the word is strong, but I chose it deliberately because at this moment words are needed that can capture attention, awaken consciences and point the way for humanity. In this sense, artificial intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from the logics that turn it into an instrument of domination and exclusion. or death. Just as nuclear energy should be at the service of everyone and the common good.

[00:08:17]Decisions about technology should never be separated from conscience and responsibility.

[00:08:24]Let's stay awake.

[00:08:27]This vigilance is necessary today. Peace is not only the absence of war, it is justice in action. But when technology weakens our critical thinking, peace itself is at risk. However, disarming is not enough. We must build.

[00:08:46]The word "build" reminds me of my years as a missionary in Peru. In 2017, torrential rains and floods hit the north of the country. Many families saw their homes swallowed by mud, and many roads were also destroyed.

[00:09:02]There I learned that rebuilding does not simply mean replacing what was destroyed; it means repairing ties, restoring trust, and rekindling hope for the future. Furthermore, nobody rebuilds alone.

[00:09:17]In magnificent humanitas, I recall the biblical prophet Nehemiah before the ruins of Jerusalem, gathering discouraged people to bring about a rebirth.

[00:09:28]The image of the walls does not legitimize closures or divisions, but invites everyone to contribute their bit; brick by brick, a fairer coexistence is forged, capable of safeguarding the dignity of all.

[00:09:42]Artificial intelligence can be a terrain for building history from a horizon of communion where technical progress learns to serve human life. Let us not fear artificial intelligence, but let us always keep the human element in mind. We cannot be negligent with our most powerful technical instruments.

[00:10:06]True development, says Pope St. Paul VI, always concerns each person and the person in their entirety.

[00:10:15]Each person means that no one can be left out of the digital transformation. In its entirety, it means that no one can be reduced to productivity, cognitive performance, or mere data. The person carries within himself a freedom, an interiority, and a vocation to love and adoration that no machine can replace or block.

[00:10:41]Okay, let 's examine the historical context for a moment. Professor, the Catholic Church has always used encyclicals as barometers of humanity's great crises. Why does the announcement of artificial intelligence cause such a stir and force the Vatican to react with the highest-ranking document of its magisterium to date?

[00:11:16]What does the Pope want to tell us at this moment? Vladimir, well, this is the first encyclical he has written, which is the important thing.

[00:11:25]It's an encyclical, I'm going to put it in this exemplar. Magnificent humanity, as the Pope defines it, is an exaltation of man, of the human being.

[00:11:35]Today, they are advertising that for $50 in California you can rent a robot that will clean your house 24 hours a day if you want.

[00:11:47]And with the effects that this has on eliminating domestic workers, on everything else, everything you want, they even mention in the important fact of the domestic robot that even emotional and sexual problems with male and female employees and all that kind of thing are eliminated, right? This is something to wear and it also makes domestic help cheaper, right? This is for wearing today. Today.

[00:12:14]So, we are facing a situation where robotization, the creation of this extraordinary embodiment of human thought that has become today a robot of this nature or that other element that operates the computer networks of artificial intelligence or those female human figures, I don't recall there being male human figures in that artificial intelligence that talks to you, interacts with you and gives you answers and all that, right? No, that's not it. In contrast, there is a materialization of everyday life and a disregard for spiritual matters. And this is where the Pope comes in to raise this issue. One very interesting fact I was able to determine is that when Pope Francis announced the encyclical "This Magnificent Humanity," did he know who he had invited? I had invited none other than Christopher Hola. Christopher Hola is one of the co-founders of the American company called Artificial Antropic. But there's something else even more interesting: Christopher Hola is an atheist, and the Pope had invited him to sit there in the parsya to explain the encyclical and its importance. And the atheist, hello, he's with the Pope there. And he also says a few words in the " hello" section, pointing out the importance of the document that the Pope is going to present, which he surely already knew about, and where he says that more are needed, I'm talking about the atheist right now, the atheist. Hello, where it says that more people are needed in the world, which includes for Ola, religious communities, civil society, academics, uh uh of course all the people who are gathered there listening to the Pope, the prelates, the Catholics, all those, right? To understand how a civil society must take seriously and carefully the development of humanity at this moment in order to have more information, critical information, he says, and that this information and these positions can inform or tell the laboratories where they are failing, right? And to have, says this artificial intelligence researcher, more moral voices to encourage dialogue, right? So, Magnifica Humanitas was born precisely from listening to Pope Leo XIV. He says that this inspiration came to him after Leo XI's encyclical on Rerum Novarum, which is the one that gives or does not give the margin, it is the one that gives rise to the social doctrine of the Church in the last 135 years. And one more important detail is that he reads the encyclical, precisely when the 135th anniversary of the event is being commemorated; we are coinciding, he is reassessing that very important situation. And why? So, now we're going to talk about different eras. Well, you said it, Sergio. The era, the end of the 19th century, the industrial revolution, the development of the working class, the development of the great social struggles for 8-hour workdays, for wages, etc., all those things that are very important. Development of trade union movements, emergence and development of workers' parties and social democratic workers' parties, of anarchist, socialist and communist currents. That is what Lion 13 faces, and Lion 13 is launching itself into action, raising its flag high to gain ground within the working class, saying that the right of workers to strike is just, that the right of workers to organize is just, and that the right to a fair wage is also valid for the workers' struggle. And that's where it begins, and in Costa Rica that had very important repercussions with Bishop Til in 1893, who clashed with the president of the time, José Joaquín Rodríguez, because José Joaquín Rodríguez criticized the dissemination of that encyclical in a pastoral letter number 30 that Bishop Til wrote here in Costa Rica, defending fair wages, organization, and strikes and all that, right? No, don't go into those details, that's more of a national story, but it's important to point it out and from there on it's a first step. Then, the second moment will occur with the period of the war, of the First World War, where in 1914 Pope Benedict X at that time made an encyclical also in favor of peace, calling on Christians in that sense. In 1918, as the war was ending, Pope Benedict XVI made another encyclical, entitled "What He Had Done So Long Ago," which was about how peace at that time was founded on principles, calling for the peace that was developing to be based on Christian principles of justice. Then Benedict XVI always returns to speaking of peace as a beautiful gift from God in 1920, to establish the need for justice and highlight the role of the Church in that post-war period that was beginning at that time and that was giving rise to the Russian Revolution in 1917. And in the midst of that, in 1921, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was founded, and then Cardinal de Siré Mercier appeared in Belgium, very important, promoting the Mechelen Social Code. He already had a long career as Siré, Pope Mercier, in all that process, in Catholic schools, in Catholic universities, projected in Spain, all those things. And he has a reaction precisely against the Russian Revolution and against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

[00:18:54]and against the development of what was then called the Third Republic of France, where there was an impetus towards criticism, positivism, evolutionism, and agnosticism. Well, there were a number of very important elements that developed secularism, the separation of church and state in many things in France, and he reacted against that. Then he promoted the Social Code of Malines, which is a very important document, a long text, about 80 pages, where he makes a series of proposals about the role that the Church should have in the 1920s and 30s and from then on. Then, in the year 50, after the election of Pope Pius II, an important problem arises in the Church: identifying itself in social struggles by organizing unions, organizing workers, organizing Catholics. A lot of organizations appear. Here in Costa Rica we have Catholic Action, Brotherhoods of Workers, some of those that are like that and promote the labor unions with more force than already existed of a Christian nature. And then a long time had to pass, almost 30 years, from 1931 to 1961, before the Pope, who was John XXIII, I think it was, published that beautiful encyclical, Mother and Teacher, Matra, where he already wrote about underdevelopment and the lack of solidarity from rich countries to poor countries and criticized it. And here begins yet another rethinking of the social doctrine of the church, right? After John 23, he continues with the encyclical Ping Interis, right? Peace on Earth, where he now rethinks human rights, that at this moment human rights have more strength than at that time.

[00:20:50]They have more strength because today they are an umbrella that covers practically everything and proposes, let's say, that the economy should be at the service of humanity and not the other way around, right? which is the most important thing.

[00:21:01]Then Paul VI, who only has one encyclical, is remembered for an encyclical that was closer to the 80th anniversary of Rome and that thing when he talks about changing social structures and above all changing the hearts of men in order to address social injustices effectively. Pay attention to what we're talking about, because now we're going to get to the current Pope. And then Juan Pablo Segi, who does have a very important dynamic with the concern for the social question and the hundredth year, like the centenary of the network, a man, where there he analyzes, it is his turn to analyze the collapse of the socialist and Russian and communist societies that existed in Europe, the role of the State in that transformation, the new era, what you rightly pointed out, that we live in eras and that what the Church does is face situations of the era in the face of the transformation that arises in the last 30 years of a unique globalism in the United States, the super-capitalism that has developed, the fourth revolution, as you rightly called it in that technological sense, and how poverty and inequality begin to worsen from that moment until we get to Pope Francis and Leo XIII, who is really the one who is supporting us, but in these, correct me, correct me if I am wrong, because that is what it is about. Vladimir, I see a profound parallel and even a symbolism between what a pope who is named, who is called, says, right? Leo X and 135 years later, a pope named Leo XIV takes up the rather turbulent contexts that each of them had to live through in their own times. So, it seems to me that there is a historical parallel between all the consequences of the industrial revolution in its first stage and in its second stage. Well, I could summarize them like this. You explain to me the first industrial revolution that lasted from 1750 to 1840, let's say, spearheaded by Great Britain, which had as its elements coal, mining, hydraulic power, the textile industry, the cotton boom, iron and steel production, the railway, and the steamship.

[00:23:49]But the second one, from 1850 to 1914, before the First World War, which was led by Germany, the United States, France, and Japan, but there are other elements there such as electricity, oil, gas, the chemical industry, steel, the automotive industry, mass production, aviation, and telegraphy; it is development.

[00:24:20]Yes, no, that is the correct development of the end of the 19th and 20th centuries and the beginning of the 10th century of monopolies, oligopolies, tris and cartels as large companies that turn out over the world.

[00:24:36]But there is a reason for this.

[00:24:38]This is possible both the revolution, the first industrial revolution and the second, and the dates, uh, because there is an agricultural revolution, right? Highly productive, with available capital, abundant natural resources, and political stability.

[00:24:58]And besides, innovation is happening in every sense, right? The locomotive, the electric light bulb, the machine, all the steam engines, all of that makes that situation possible and brings about, right?, exploitation and mercy towards a new class that was not known before, which was the worker, the worker emerges.

[00:25:24]So, the church takes a position on this. What would that parallel be?

[00:25:30]Taking into account that there is a predilection of the great powers for the so-called rare earths, where there is a technology that is the field of innovation that we now see, right? By replacing human labor. Before, it was exploitation and mercy, with working days of 15-20 hours, right? Now, what are the contexts that resulted in these papal reflections, those of Leo XIII and Leo XIV? Now, obviously going through those milestones of other encyclicals in the successive popes that have occurred between this Leo XIII and this Leo XIII.

[00:26:19]Add to that what you pointed out, the genetic revolution of the mid- 19th century with Mendel's laws that allows the reproduction of food and the reproduction of animals, right?

[00:26:29]for the agricultural revolution, which is very important.

[00:26:34]We are facing that situation; these are times, because there is something important in this magnificent encyclical, Humanidad, and that is that the Pope clearly says that each of these encyclicals responds to a new era, and we are living in that new era, the era of the internet, the era of artificial intelligence, the era of the digital electronic revolution, whatever we want to call it, we can call it many things, but where monsters are already beginning to appear that are outside of us and that at the same time have an enormous capacity to solve many problems, not only personal, emotional, professional, academic, scientific, even military, because they are using military intelligence for war, and artificial intelligence for war, to make calculations and all that kind of thing. We are facing that. That's a real revolution. And then the Pope tells us clearly, he says it there, humanity, the current Pope, created by God in all its greatness, faces today a cruel choice. And here comes the concept of building a new Tower of Babel or building the city where God and humanity live together. Faith here is an interesting concept and now I am going to refer, let's say, to some texts of medieval philosophy that I studied a very long time ago with a great philosopher who still lives here in Costa Rica, Guillermo Malabasi, a very Catholic man, and he gave courses in medieval philosophy where he taught us some very significant classical texts. Among those I remember very well the text of the city of God and the city of the devil. The City of God, as the text was truly called, and the City of the Devil, as it was said par excellence, was the text of Saint Augustine of Hippo, which had been written around the year 41, 426, where he makes a confrontation precisely of the pagan city that he is living in at that time with the need to make a defense of Christianity in which he then confronts the heavenly city with that material pagan city that he lives in.

[00:28:52]And here we are, the Pope talking about the Tower of Babel, to put it that way, which is more symbolic for some Christians because of the amount of symbolism that it can have. And the city of God, to put it in the terms of Saint Augustine, or the city that must be built with God, let's say, where humanity can live together, where we are no longer more human, where we develop bonds of solidarity, of brotherhood, of cooperation, where we see each other as equals and not unequal, neither as exploited, nor as exploiters, nor killing each other. or in a situation of that nature. It seems to me that this is the message he is giving, and where we humans can coexist. That is the key point made in this new encyclical, which the Pope is signing, referring precisely to that well-known biblical story to illustrate, let's say, the damage being done with power and stability in the name of progress, which is being presented today as something fully integrated into humanity. You see, the phrase, let's say, that I referred to, city of God and city of the devil, actually refers to that theological, philosophical discussion from around the year 400. Imagine how long ago that was, a lot of years ago.

[00:30:20]And here we return to the point again between the Tower of Babel, figuratively with Saint Augustine, in those who love themselves selfishly, who do not care about others, etc., where pride, materialism, the desire for domination, the desire for earthly power predominates. The Pope's words, not so much mine, but the spiritual part, the fraternal part, the friendly part of the human being, the kind part of the human being, which I believe is the part, because what the Pope is doing here is calling for life, recognizing two ways of living, thinking and loving in the coexistence that we must have in the world, just by experiencing the wars that are happening there in the Middle East and in Ukraine, right in front of the Pope, where they have him like a sandwich there in Italy between the two extremes of war.

[00:31:16]He needs to understand that coexistence is necessary, and that's important because he himself has traveled to those regions. He has made trips there to all those areas: Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Luxembourg, Belgium, France. He was in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. Uh, he was recently in Türkiye and Lebanon, which are already in the middle of the conflict, and he's going to Spain, Barcelona and other Spanish cities in the coming days. So, he's a guy who's on the move and has a message— not just religious, but I think also diplomatic, political—of bringing hope in war zones, of bringing a message of peace and coexistence. I think it's very important in that sense. For him, let's say, the reference to the Tower of Babel, the city of the devil, is the city of sin, of evil, of guilt, of death, where neither justice nor law is fulfilled, right? I believe this is the issue where he is calling her attention to that.

[00:32:21]Because? Because, specifically, what does this biblical text that's being released now refer to? To point out an important issue. He says that each generation of humanity shares a responsibility.

[00:32:37]What responsibility does the Pope speak of? The goal is to shape our own era and history in which we each live, to achieve the goals of civilization, to safeguard—that is his message— human dignity and justice. Look how strong it is. That's why he says, I'm going to use strong words, he doesn't mean to present his encyclical badly. And then he calls for the protection of the human person.

[00:33:05]Before whom? Facing artificial intelligence. To whom? in the face of the challenges posed by the artificial intelligence model and such things. That is why he says it is an encyclical addressed to man, who must be cared for and protected. It is to build either a city of coexistence or we can fall into a Tower of Babel, as he calls it, which ends up rejecting, of course, in the Pope's language, God, all of Christendom, all of spirituality, establishing a single language, etc., which is different. And again he acknowledges that the weak are sacrificed in this era, that people are reduced to data, that God and neighbor are not recognized, that there is less and less commitment in that sense, that we must disarm, he says, and unmask artificial intelligence, eliminate monopolies. That's a very interesting thing. He says that we need to eliminate the monopoly that is concentrated in private hands of this new technology, which is what I wanted to refer to. Uh, the question is this, there is a central point in the warnings that are known from the preliminary document.

[00:34:30]In the past, innovation was driven by states, but today the difference is that it is led by private actors, transnational corporations with more resources than many states.

[00:34:45]Clear.

[00:34:45]For example, Elon Musk just said today, right?, that there are more intelligent and better working people in China than in the United States. It has caused a stir.

[00:34:58]And when we saw Donald Trump's visit with the 30 businessmen to CJ Ping, the Chinese leader, they captured the attention of many people, even Chinese officials, because they were the richest men on the planet, but they were also the ones who hold, let's say, the cybernetic power of artificial intelligence, that is, they control satellites, they control cutting-edge technology, we're not talking about that anymore. So, any one of them exceeds the GDP of any of the Central American countries, for example. From a political analysis perspective, how does this alter the concept of national sovereignty and democratic control when, in a country like Nicaragua or Costa Rica, any of these people can simply shut down social media, and that would generate incalculable disruption from both a psychological and a commercial point of view?

[00:36:12]What are your comments on this?

[00:36:14]This is the situation we are experiencing. This is the case of the Strait of Orm.

[00:36:19]That life ends, and 80% of world trade ends. Similarly, if the submarine cables are cut, more than 90% of international communications are disrupted.

[00:36:29]We are facing a situation where communities sometimes depend on situations as violent as these where there are no controls. So, what is it about? The point is that these controls should be humanizable from a human perspective, that is, at the service of humanity, not at the service of corporations that suddenly have leverage to attack peoples, to attack regions, to appropriate the wealth of countries, because they have the technological instruments to dominate them, exploit them or ruin them and plunge them into the deepest misery. I think this is the issue because the Pope's encyclical says, "We must not reduce, we must not renounce technology. The problem is that technology must not dominate humanity." That's more or less what the Pope says. And that dialogue in this dimension is more important because humanity will always be at the center of history. That's what the Pope says. Not technology, not robots, not robotization, not these things, not DVD chat rooms, not the old lady in the chat room or the pretty young woman in the chat room, etc., or those dolls that are already robots, right? That are beautiful human beings or whatever, that kind of thing is no longer acceptable. And in that sense, he calls us to nurture relationships, to nurture communities, and to reach out to the poor. That's what he means by the term " reach out to the poor," because he says that artificial intelligence must be disarmed so that it doesn't serve as an instrument of domination, so that it doesn't serve as an instrument of social exclusion, or so that it doesn't serve as an instrument of death, which is more important, because Artificial intelligence, the Pope says, should awaken consciences and pave the way for a better humanity. When we speak of humanity, we speak of free relationships between people, and he raises another important point: that nuclear energy should be at the service of everyone and the common good. He doesn't say at the service of just one country, because there are countries like the United States that want to control global nuclear energy and therefore prevent other countries from developing their own sources of nuclear energy, or they oppose the situation in Iran, and so on. And that's why there's a problem there, isn't there? Here he says, it can be at the service of everyone, but it must be at the service of humanity for the benefit of human beings. And the other point he acknowledges is that peace must be the absence of war. He says, "Ah, look at that strong word." No, peace isn't about stopping conflicts, it's about not having wars at all. This is what the Pope is saying right now. And when he says that peace is the absence of war, he means that it's justice in action. That is to say, we must constantly be working towards social justice, solving the problems of humanity, of people: housing, health, work, quality of life, social well-being in general. He doesn't say these other things, but that's what emerges from the philosophy included here.

[00:39:30]Why? To be able to build, to be able to repair bonds, that's what he says, to restore what has been destroyed and develop trust. Look at the concepts. We are destroying, we are destroying, we are destroying material, physical, emotional structures of all kinds, and we are creating distrust. The Pope is calling for the opposite; we are calling for that, for strengthening, he says, hope for the future.

[00:40:01]Not the hope of the present, because we don't know if the hope of the present is hope or not. We must strengthen hope for the future, so that we can have... Guaranteed, let's say, in that sense, that. Artificial intelligence, the Pope says, can be a building ground, of course it can, a ground for communion in favor of human life it can also be, but no one can be reduced to a piece of data, to an instrument of production. Here in Costa Rica, even today mechanisms are being announced by which they want to intervene in the country's civil and electoral registry data, data that they want to dangerously transfer to private interests for control. Imagine what that is. Well, the Pope is opposing these things here. I think that's very important, and in that sense, that's what we 're seeing, that's what we 're paying attention to, and that's the importance I see in this document that's being released today.

[00:40:56]I confess that I haven't read it all. I just downloaded it thanks to you sending it to me. I downloaded it, I have it now to read this afternoon. I'm going to enjoy it. But the thing is, the document, besides being more than 130 pages long, right? It's unmissable, as they say nowadays, because It contains a series of completely updated concepts that one would say, no, no, no, can't be conceived in the mind of a reactionary. It's a man with his team who is thinking about the future of humanity. Uh, for example, the Pope warns about the normalization of war, and says, "All this is being done through algorithms, because first they instilled in us the idea that everything was a digital game where people killed each other, right?, and got scores." Well, that has been transferred to real life, where now a drone destroys entire cities.

[00:41:54]So, these algorithms, right? He also links them to the process of disinformation.

[00:41:59]and says that this weakens democracies. And now that you and I and our followers, our community, know perfectly well that we live in an age of extreme polarization, how does Vladimir's view of the citizen's mind be affected by the fact that artificial intelligence can blur the line between truth and falsehood? They can access our private lives, they can access our most hidden needs, both material and immaterial. That's what we're talking about, and that's what the Pope is warning about.

[00:42:41]So, Vladimir, how do we protect ourselves from this avalanche of the topic we once discussed regarding post-truth and the use of data?

[00:42:53]How do we take care of ourselves? It's a very difficult question to answer, but let's just say it's a situation in which we are already involved, threatened, and interfered with, to put it that way.

[00:43:06]Um, there are recent internet applications that have been announced recently where you can enter your name, Sergio, into that application, and everything about you that is electronically registered appears, and your whole life can be there, from kindergarten records, school records, baptism records, everything, everything, everything, your entire history is there, right? Uh, if you have a program like this, all your program files and everything will be there. So, everything will be recorded, the photos you've sent to your family, all of that will be captured and put there. In other words, there is no privacy anymore, there is inviolability, there is a violation of their privacy, of their private life and that of their family and that of their children and that of their grandchildren and of the whole world. That's over now. That's what we 're experiencing. That is why we are facing an extraordinary deterioration of that society which lacks those respectful relationships of love. In this case, let's say it's about Christian love, we're talking about the encyclical, right? That's why the Pope's comparison of the Tower of Babel and the City of God caught my attention, because in that biblical text by Saint Augustine, now that I remember correctly, it had to do with the fact that when Saint Augustine wrote this around the year 410, the Roman Empire, where the Pope resided, was also falling apart, the barbarians were entering, and it was a reference, let's say, to Christianity, which had begun to develop since Constantine. There was a crisis in that sense, and the Christian edifice was collapsing. There was already a situation where faith was beginning to be lost, where parts of Christianity were beginning to be disregarded.

[00:45:06]Christianity had not been divided as it was until 1519, 1520, but now we have a situation of a very weak Christianity. If it was once a dominant religion, it is not dominant today.

[00:45:19]In Costa Rica it's 52%, Catholics, etc., Catholics, Catholic Christians. So, in that sense, the concerns of Saint Augustine at that time were shaken by the fall of Rome, the early parts, when that period of the Middle Ages begins, in that period that begins the Middle Ages, is the same now as the period of the rise of the United States as a world power and the period of disintegration of the United States, which is what seems to be happening, and the pluri-pluri, as we would say, the multi-state system that begins to emerge, the multipolarity that begins to emerge. There is now a growing trend to understand that the world is multipolar, no longer a single pole, and that we have to live like this and that there can no longer be a single country trying to impose the rules by force, right? Uh, that's not possible. We need to move to a different situation. That's why I find the Pope's comparison between the Tower of Babel and the City of God, between the City of God and the City of the Devil, as it was called a lot of years ago, so interesting. I think that's important here. At that time, of course, Saint Augustine had to face superstition and other things. There is some of that today.

[00:46:43]Superstition today is not the religious superstitions of the Middle Ages, it's electronic gods, electronic monsters, those identifications with which people end up living and coexisting with them and using them for good and for bad, right? There is no looting here, let's say, of Rome by the Bisygoths. This is not a situation where the world is being plundered by four or five countries that want to appropriate it for its natural resources, its rare riches, and so on. I believe that this is where the Pope is drawing attention to the fact that this must be respected, and if we want to coexist, we must know how to live with all of this. And then in harmony, in solidarity, under, let's say, Christian precepts, to put it more or less in a papal sense, people and communities must live together and then know how to enjoy what they have, right? But for whose benefit? of humanity, of the human being, of the magnificent man, of magnificent humanity, as the Pope says, which is all human beings and he refers at once to the poorest, to the poor. Ah, well, you can't generate wealth if you don't make the poor stop being poor. I think this is the important part, right? Uh, because the Roman gods in that medieval era were incapable of protecting the pagans, right? And the name of Christ was the one used as a battalion of combat to save numerous people, including non-Christians.

[00:48:27]Now, here we are in a similar situation, right?, which is what the Pope is addressing, it seems to me. That's more or less what I perceive and interpret at this moment. There is a real, immediate problem. Furthermore, you already sensed it at the beginning of the program when it was mentioned that today, precisely in the United States, there is already a company, right?, that offers robots for cleaning houses or homes. That's going to be a trend and increasing.

[00:49:04]Uh, the other day an image circulated, and I was looking for it, that I don't know if it was artificial intelligence, produced with artificial intelligence, of former president Espigueres with a robot dog, right? where he appeared caressing him. A pet that, well, even that, right? Now even those species are at risk, right?

[00:49:31]Because, well, those species are programmed to bring you slippers, bring you the newspaper, right? etc. Uh, the serious problem with this, uh, professor, is that they are fighting for many jobs that are currently uh uh activities of thousands and thousands of people. So, the states—I mean the nation-states, right?—of our region are focused on other problems and not on the essence of the risk posed by the advancement of this artificial intelligence, which will lower costs, eliminate jobs, and therefore, what will happen to those people? So, we're here, look, let me put it this way, a fact, with artificial intelligence, many young Costa Ricans, and I have no doubt in Nicaragua as well, are accessing the different chat services, all of them, and using them as confessors, as sources of advice on particular situations they are facing in their lives, drugs, sexual relationships, etc., because simply going to a specialist, right?, is embarrassing and expensive. So, they feel comfortable, right? interacting with a robot. That's artificial intelligence, which in turn is passing on a lot of information from many nodes about this.

[00:51:19]So, nobody is warning about this issue. But now the Pope has come out and said, "Pay attention to this." And I see that nation-states and political parties are more lost than a dog in a procession regarding the major core activities that concern humanity, the future of humanity. I completely agree with you. That's the era we live in. Hey Paul VI, I think he had already raised the issue of the civilization of love, right? Presenting a perspective of the city of God as a goal of Christianity, let's say.

[00:51:59]Uh, and this has been going on for a while now because Paul VI went back in 1967 and we are many years later with Leo XIV rethinking that society of love for 60 years, professor, in that way. Ah, yes, yes. So, I was already 60 years old, I was telling you.

[00:52:21]That is the central issue because there is a crisis. If there is a crisis, it is not just a military or political crisis, it is an emotional crisis of values, and values ​​have to do with life, with respect for life and human solidarity, above all, which is a very important thing. So, this is where, let's say, I think this Pope is something else, right? I believe it will begin to leave a deeper, different, more combative mark, more contrasting with the de facto, world political powers, trying to raise its voice in that sense to see if the third world war can be avoided. It seems to me, he doesn't say it here, but I think that's the gist of what he wants to go towards, or where he wants to go, trying to avoid that conflagration. Because if a third world war breaks out, it will happen in the midst of that atmosphere around the Vatican, between what is happening in the Middle East and what is happening in Northern Europe, in Ukraine. In other words, all those places are sandwiched in there like a sandwich. So, the Pope is clear about that, and also about the problems in Africa, where there are over 20 military conflicts. In Latin America we don't have those military conflicts, but we still have tense and turbulent situations. We have a military intervention in Venezuela.

[00:53:46]There are threats to intervene in Cuba, there are threats to occupy Greenland, there are threats to take half of Canada, in short, all that and even threats against Mexico from the United States. And then one says, "But what is this?

[00:54:00]It's a world in turmoil. What can come of this? Suddenly, nothing but ashes will remain. We either survive well or we could be reduced to ashes, right? And so, I think it's a good wake-up call that the Pope is making, pointing to magnificent humanity— as one could translate this magnificent humanitas, civic life—to address precisely the impact of this entire digital technological revolution, these technologies related to artificial intelligence, to the modern world, which abandon human dignity. The point here is to rescue human dignity and ensure that science and technological capacity are at the service of humanity, not to its detriment, nor to its domination, nor to its exploitation, nor to its death, but to give more life, to give a better quality of life to humankind, and to give us all the possibilities of living better today. I think this is the key: that science and technology, as the Pope says, are at the service of humanity and not the other way around, which is somewhat the criticism he makes with this Encyclical, right? Um, interesting what I was saying earlier, that the presentation was made in front of none other than Christopher Columbus, who agreed with him, right? Um, in every sense, that he's one of the producers of these artificial intelligences and that he's not even a believer, which is interesting, and yet he supports, one by one, a Christian banner like the one the Pope represents in this fight. And he's a man who, in that sense, should be interpreted as being in favor of what the Pope says, that all this technological and scientific development should be at the service of humanity and not for the destruction of humanity. I think this is the key part of the message we're receiving today.

[00:55:59]That's right.

[00:56:02]That's right. Well, uh, this was an overview of the matter, right?

[00:56:08]Of course.

[00:56:08]Thank you, Vladimir, thank you for your time, right? I know, I know it's very valuable. Thank you for giving us this time to reflect on such an important topic that the Pope has raised.

[00:56:22]Thank you very much, Vladimir. We'll meet again next week. Right now we're going to [the message] and I'll be back with the conclusions.

[00:56:31]Thank you very much. You and I are what strengthens us.

[00:56:38]We are the hope that does not die.

[00:56:44]The Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has begun deducting between 1 and 10% of public sector workers' salaries to cover party expenses, that is, to maintain the repressive machinery of the Sandinista Front.

[00:56:59]This is the configuration, or the consummation, of the configuration, let's say, of the State as an ideological enterprise.

[00:57:07]This means that ideological enterprises are those employers who impose certain behaviors on their workers that restrict their fundamental rights. They have to believe in a certain ideology, be active in that ideology, mobilize in favor of that ideology, and express themselves in favor of it. Seen from another perspective, then they cannot mobilize against that partisan ideological current, they cannot express themselves freely, they cannot think freely; it limits the rights of the workers, and in this case, they have to contribute, make a party contribution with their salary.

[00:57:47]Obviously, this is theft from public sector workers, but it is also This theft, in addition to being a robbery of public sector workers, is a robbery of Nicaraguan taxpayers whose taxes fund the Republic's general budget, and it is from this budget that workers' salaries are paid.

[00:58:11]Therefore, it is also a robbery of the taxes paid by Nicaraguan citizens. But there was, of course, a robbery of public sector workers who are operating within a framework of totalitarian relationships, typical of the 20th-century totalitarian dictatorships of Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, and Paul Pot—dictatorships that shaped states into ideological enterprises.

[00:58:40]Therefore, our call to public sector workers is that in a democratic Nicaragua, a true civil service and administrative career law will be reinstated to guarantee their job stability and advancement; that in a truly democratic Nicaragua, they will be able to express themselves and mobilize freely, regardless of whether it is against the current government; and that the state will be an employer that fulfills its obligations. Labor relations, and that the State and the party will be two separate entities, and the political parties will cease to exist.

[00:59:23]Therefore, our appeal to public sector workers, whom we know are uncomfortable and dissatisfied with this decision, is to keep in mind that they will be necessary in the democratic transition and in post-dictatorship Nicaragua, and that we also need them at this time. Likewise, we, from the National Unity movement, want to commemorate—we are now approximately 10 days away from the commemoration of the massacre of May 30, 2018—and in this way, reaffirm our commitment to justice for the victims, our commitment to truth, to reparations, and to guarantees of non- repetition, in order to build a Nicaragua that is not only democratic and free, but also free from the pacts of impunity that, throughout our history, have been the means to seize political power.

[01:00:30]I am Juan Diego Barberena, and this is a message from the Political Council of the National Unity Blue and White Movement.

[01:00:41]Well, we're back.

[01:00:45]I want to leave you, dear friends and members of this program's community, with the message that the publication of Magnifica Humanitas demonstrates that the challenge of artificial intelligence is no longer solely the domain of engineers, technologists, or Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

[01:01:12]It is a profoundly political, humanistic, and ethical challenge. When the Vatican calls for dismantling artificial intelligence and wresting the data monopoly from a select few, it is reminding us that efficiency cannot take precedence over human dignity.

[01:01:31]History has taught us that whenever we allow tools to dominate the creator or their creator, the social consequences have been devastating. We invite you to study this text, not only from a faith-based perspective, but also from the healthy realism that Professor Vladimir de la Cruz has shared with us today.

[01:01:59]Thank you so much, everyone, for joining us for this edition of the Round Table. Please like and share this program. We'll be back tomorrow. Please take care. A lot. Until tomorrow.

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