Technology increasingly seems to be taking over us. Think about it: our days are now punctuated by notifications, products arrive at our homes thanks to digital giants who simultaneously select the information we can access, suggest topics for discussion, and suggest new contacts and social networks. In short, the connection between modern life and technology seems practically inseparable. But be careful: living immersed in technology doesn't mean understanding it. Above all, living amidst technology and innovation doesn't automatically make us better, nor does it necessarily change our way of thinking, making decisions, and living together for the worse. Technology, in fact, doesn't invent new virtues and new flaws. In fact, when it comes to flaws, it amplifies them: superficiality, distraction, and lack of vision thus spread like wildfire.
This is confirmed in the essay "The Problem We Are" (Guerini e Associati, 2026, €21.00, 200 pages) by entrepreneur and startupper Danilo Broggi. Starting from the pairing of "human stupidity" and "Artificial Intelligence," Broggi brings together five years of reflections published in the monthly magazine Longitude, exploring scenarios ranging from the global economy to geopolitics, from the environment to work, from health to digital culture . Each essay shows how technology does not create new problems, but rather highlights the long-standing limitations of our societies: lust for power, political and social shortsightedness, the inability to build a future, and difficulties in collaborating.
The assumption is very simple: one of the great nonsense people say about technology—any technology—is that it is neutral. It is neither good nor bad; it all depends on how we use it. This may be true in theory, but in reality, every technology is both good and bad. The philosopher Bacon argued that technology creates on the one hand, destroys on the other, breaks on the other, and fixes on the other. The important thing, therefore, is to understand it and use it to its fullest extent, seeking awareness in what we do. Artificial Intelligence, for example, is made up of computer programs that rely on probability: AI generates sentences and constructs narratives based simply on the probability that one word will follow another. For this reason, it is essential to use it with careful and conscious management, because without control it can make gross errors. It is crucial to recognize that humans cannot and should not delegate total control to such a tool.
Artificial Intelligence is designed to assist humans, not replace them. This technology, in fact, is incapable of distinguishing between good and evil; without proper management, it could provide potentially dangerous responses. It is up to us to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to understand when Artificial Intelligence makes mistakes and mishandles the data at its disposal. Faced with a technology of this kind, destined to alter the trajectory of human development, the choice about the role to assign to this new technology in our lives belongs to us, as individuals and as a community. The more powerful the machines and technologies available, the more we must use our own brains to govern them, as Broggi suggests. This book is not an indictment of exponential innovation or Artificial Intelligence, but rather an invitation to rethink ourselves: to rediscover the power of collaboration, the value of community, and shared responsibility. Because the real game is not played between man and machine, but between a disintegrated society and a conscious society.