Wisdom between Conscience and Memory
in public debates
Beyond Computation: A Dialogue Between Science and Algorethics
Federico Faggin’s keynote speech at the Turin International Book Fair (May 2026)
The Case: “AI understands nothing, it is not an oracle. Ethics is not an algorithm”: microchip inventor Federico Faggin at the Book Fair.
Source: Il Fatto Quotidiano, article by [Author, if available, e.g., Marco Travaglio or Editorial Staff], "Artificial intelligence understands nothing", web page published on May 14, 2026 (referring to the article and the quoted phrases from Faggin’s speech on the link: "https://tuttiquotidiani.it/it/news/lai-non-capisce-niente-non-e-un-oracolo-letica-non-e-un-algoritmo-linventore-del-microchip-federico-faggin-al-salone-del-libro
The Insurmountable Barrier
As highlighted by the scientist Federico Faggin, an insurmountable barrier exists between the computational capacity of AI and the conscious experience of the human being. The Algorethics for the Good accepts this challenge: starting from the awareness that the machine lacks a "moral sentiment", the work proposes to codify the universal principles of the Decalogue as a necessary logical architecture to orient technology toward the service of the Person.
1. The Conscious Experience
According to Faggin, artificial intelligence is purely symbolic and algorithmic (based on syntax), whereas human consciousness is phenomenological (based on qualia).
- The machine: Processes electrical signals. When AI "reads" the word "love" or "pain", it feels nothing; it is merely calculating the statistical probability of that word.
- The human being: Feels the "sentiment" of the experience. This capacity cannot be reduced to an algorithm.
2. From Information to Meaning
Faggin distinguishes between the transmitted information (which the machine can handle) and the meaning (which only consciousness can grasp).
In this sense, an open perspective does not demean technology, but places it in its rightful position: a formidable tool, yet one that is ontologically devoid of life.
Algorethics as a Logical Solution
If consciousness is an irreducible property of nature that the machine will never possess, then instructing the machine through the Decalogue becomes the only possible path. We cannot expect the machine to "become" good; we must design it according to the laws of the Good.
Faggin describes consciousness as the capacity to comprehend wholeness. This concept coincides with "Sapiential Memory": the Person is not a set of data, but a conscious unity that adheres to the Good not by computation.
"Algorethics is the code that allows human wisdom to govern the conservation of data."
However, Algoretica del Bene demonstrates how much logic and reasonableness can be embedded into the machine's computation.
Summary of the Challenge and Systemic Response
- The Challenge: AI operates on stochastic bases devoid of semantic intentionality ("Ontological Blindness").
- The Response: The proposal of Algoretica del Bene (Algorethics for the Good) does not aim to endow AI with a consciousness — a technically impossible goal — but to bind its computational power to parameters of Truth and the dignity of life through the logic of the Decalogue.
Reinforcement of Sapiential Memory
The theses of Guido Teodoro De Leo clarify the ontological difference between the machine and the Person by defining that:
- The Machine possesses only a conservative memory (data storage).
- Man possesses a sapiential memory (ethics and discernment).
Algorethics stands as the necessary code so that human wisdom can govern and define the boundaries of data conservation, ensuring that technological progress remains anchored to the Truth.
Technical Outcome: This analysis integrates the findings of the Gemini 1.5 Pro model with the logical deductions of the work and the recent scientific evidence from May 2026.