The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 89, July 2026 Page 1 From the series Artificial intelligence One of the most penetrating reflections on the anthropological question linked to artificial intelligence (AI) was put forward by Henry Kissinger. In his view, AI and communication through digital networks – the web – undermine the principle of reality defined by the Enlightenment in two ways: the web tends to fragment our perception of reality, being based on algorithms that tailor information to individuals in order to cater to their preferences; secondly, perceptions of reality are mediated by a mechanism – the probabilistic filtering of a volume of data far beyond the capacity of the human mind – whose internal workings cannot be reconstructed through rational analysis. The web fragments perceptions of reality, tailoring it to individuals according to the ten...

Internationalism No. 88, June 2026 Page 1 From the series Artificial Intelligence It may seem curious that the Franciscan friar Paolo Benanti refers to neuroscience and the theories of David Eagleman, which reflect a materialistic conception of consciousness. The explanation probably lies in Eagleman’s self-definition as a possibilian , a not particularly clever neologism that seeks to distinguish itself from atheism, but also from agnosticism: we know too little, so science must keep multiple possibilities open at once. In Engels’ view, agnosticism is shamefaced materialism . The scientist, as such, is a materialist. However, outside his own field, he translates his ignorance into Greek and calls it agnosticism . Eagleman is even more circumspect, so it is understandable that religion sees an opening for itself in the possibilities left open. In Die Zeit , Benan...

Internationalism No. 87, February 2026 Page 1 From the series Artificial Intelligence There is an anthropological question linked to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on human consciousness, analogous – though at a higher level – to the effects of online communication and even television. We consider three aspects of this. Physical , concerning changes in the brain’s neural connections as a social product. Functional , concerning capacities that are stunted or developed by the internet and the use of artificial intelligence. Epistemological , concerning the implications for the theory of knowledge and the very notion of an objectively defined principle of reality . The Church, as it has already done with biotechnologies capable of intervening in human DNA, is developing its own reflection on artificial intelligence and its anthropological impli...

Internationalism No. 86, April 2026 Page 1 From the series Artificial Intelligence In his 1953 essay, Amadeo Bordiga argues for a very broad conception of economic structure and the means of production : The concept of the ‘economic base’ of a given human society thus extends far beyond the limits of a superficial interpretation confining it to the facts of the remuneration of labour and commercial exchange. It encompasses the entire field of the forms of reproduction of the species, i.e., family institutions; moreover, while the resources of technology and the provision of material instruments and tools of every kind form an integral part of it, its scope is not limited to that of a product showroom, but includes every mechanism available for the transmission from generation to generation of social ‘technological knowledge’. Accordingly, writing, song, music, the grap...

Internationalism No. 85, March 2026 Page 1 From the series Artificial Intelligence In his essay on the evolutionary process that led to Homo Sapiens , we saw how Friedrich Engels also links language to the chain of causes that, over hundreds of thousands of years, determined the evolution of the brain: upright posture, the hand, and labour . "Mastery over nature began with the development of the hand, with labour, and widened man's horizon at every new advance. He was continually discovering new, hitherto unknown properties in natural objects. On the other hand, the development of labour necessarily helped to bring the members of society closer together by increasing cases of mutual support and joint activity, and by making clear the advantage of this joint activity to each individual. In short, men in the making arrived at the point where they had something to...

Internationalism No. 84, February 2026 Page 1 From the series Artificial Intelligence In the introduction to Dialectics of Nature and in his unfinished essay The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man , Friedrich Engels outlined the evolutionary process that led from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens . The text stands out for the conceptual power of its materialist method, and from it we draw five fundamental concepts. First, for Engels, the brain is a product of labour . It is in the dialectical relationship of mutual action and reaction with labour – made possible by the articulation of the hand freed by man's upright posture, the result of hundreds of thousands of years of natural selection – that the brain evolved to perform the most complex functions and develop self-awareness. In turn, labour is an expression of the social relations at th...

Internationalism No. 82, December 2025 Page 8 Will the artificial intelligence bubble burst? The question mark adds to the dilemmas that the crisis in the world order is fuelling with debt, rearmament, protectionism, wars, and illusory peace agreements. After many years in which stock markets have weathered persistent headwinds, becoming the emblem of capital’s resilience to its own crises, the accumulated risks are coming to the surface. High technology, the newest sector of listed companies, has become a magnet for investment, producing in just a few years giants with unprecedented market values. The Magnificent Seven in the sector (Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla) have a combined market capitalisation of around $22 trillion, about 35% of the total of the 500 largest US corporations. The artificial intelligence (AI) champion Nvidia alone has a market capitalisation of $5 trillion. In November, when third...