So writes philosopher Byung-Chul Han, as Andrea Malaguti recalled in his Sunday editorial in La Stampa.
We discussed this last Monday during “Digital and Community… at Breakfast!” as part of Torino Future Week, at the EDIT café, opening the weekly meeting of the Digital Territories and Communities Group of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Turin with a discussion with the MagIA. Artificial Intelligence Magazine team and interested organizations.
Digital technology can isolate or create connections; it can amplify fragmentation and loneliness, or become an infrastructure for participation and active citizenship.
On the same day, Pope Leo XIV presented the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas dedicated to AI, a sign that the topic is no longer just about technology, but about the model of society we want to build.
In comparing different experiences, I proposed the reflection that has been with me these past weeks: the true goal today is not just to defend individual rights in the digital world, but to build a digital “us,” an AI that embraces differences, values communities, helps people participate, and makes territories, information, relationships, and decision-making processes more accessible.
Also interesting is the discussion on the topic of digital twins: not just technical tools or virtual models of cities, but potential spaces for listening and collective participation, capable of making citizens an active participant in urban and social transformations.
The next step will be to consolidate this dialogue, in a continuous space of dialogue between research, associations, activism, institutions, and citizens.
The most interesting digital communities perhaps arise from conversations, not algorithms.
