Lectio Magistralis | Big global challenges

Описание: February 24, 2026

First talk | Personal AI: The New Alliance Between Human Mind and Technology
The lecture will envision a near future where each of us will work alongside a personal AI designed to learn, collaborate, and evolve with the human mind. Drawing on neuroscience, human–machine interfaces, and current AI developments, Guido Saracco will outline a transformation that will reshape education and work. Rather than a conflict between humans and technology, he proposes a conscious alliance—guided by new rules and shared responsibility.

Speaker: Guido Saracco - Department of Applied Science and Technology-DISAT, Politecnico di Torino

Biography
Guido Saracco is a chemical engineer, he served as rector of the Politecnico di Torino from March 2018 to March 2024, being a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Turin since 2015. His research topics are photochemistry, catalysis, and green chemistry, with over 500 publications to his credit. He is the curator of the Biennale Tecnologia festival and the Prometeo Tech Cultures cultural content production platform, which focus on the mutual relationships between technology and humanity.


Second talk | The Evolution of Our Grand Challenges
The lecture will provide an update on the grand challenges addressed in previous courses (anthropogenic global warming, biodiversity crisis, and the energy transition) and discuss the role of technologies and design in addressing them for future generations. In particular, the successful reduction of the Antarctic ozone layer hole will be analyzed as an example of successful environmental design.

Speaker: Telmo Pievani - Department of Biology, University of Padua

Biography
Telmo Pievani (born in 1970) is a Full Professor at the University of Padua and holds Italy’s first chair in Philosophy of Biological Sciences (since 2015), as well as serving as a visiting scientist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. A former President of the Italian Society of Evolutionary Biology (2017–2019), he sits on multiple editorial boards and is the author of 395 publications, including widely translated books on evolution, human diversity, and science communication. He directs several major science outlets (Pikaia, Il Bo LIVE, and since 2025 Lucy and the Possible Worlds), has curated international exhibitions, and coordinated the Museum of Nature and Humankind in Padua (2023). A prolific public communicator and award winner, he collaborates with RAI and writes for Corriere della Sera and leading science magazines; in 2024 an asteroid was named after him.