I just returned from a series of experiences that shook both my mind and heart. Over 15 days, I transitioned between the Web Summit in Lisbon, where I gave a talk on the Creative stage, and another week immersed in the world of contemporary art at the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale — this year featuring, for the first time, a Brazilian curator, Adriano Pedrosa.

What both events share is that they are the largest stages for discussion and appreciation in their respective fields. At the first, over 70,000 people from across the globe exchanged insights on the cutting edge of innovation and technology, where the undeniable protagonist was the exponential evolution of Artificial Intelligences (AIs). At the second, more than 300 artists from around the world spread across the Giardini and Arsenale — specific areas of the Biennale — as well as numerous hotspots throughout the city, presenting paintings, sculptures, installations, and other forms of expression representing the Natural Intelligences that art (still) embodies.

It’s hard to imagine a starker contrast between the stimuli, reflections, and sensations evoked by these two events. Yet, it was precisely in this contrast that I found inspiration to write this article. In fact, I realized during my own talk that I was already exploring the tension between these two worlds. I had raised concerns about the risks of neglecting some of our foundational and ancestral abilities, such as imagination and intuition, as we increasingly delegate tasks to AIs. The brain, obsessed with efficiency, reallocates energy away from what it perceives we no longer use — like how we lost the ability to remember phone numbers when we outsourced that task to smartphones.

At the Biennale, imagination and intuition seemed to overflow, almost as though these magical qualities that distinguish us from other species were being safeguarded against the voracious appetite of technology. At least, that was my initial interpretation during the first two days of the Biennale. But there was another fascinating connection.

This year’s theme, Foreigners Everywhere, highlighted the perspectives of colonized, exploited, and displaced peoples, with many of the featured artists operating outside mainstream museum and gallery circuits. A striking example was Aydeé Rodríguez López, a self-described Afro-Mexican artist who portrayed life on cotton plantations where African slaves were exploited by Mexicans, who in turn were colonized by Spaniards.

This artwork led me to realize that some of the most striking discussions I had heard at the Web Summit had a profound potential connection to what was on display at the Biennale.

Human history has been shaped by power dynamics where superior technologies played a decisive role. From mastering fire to developing agriculture and communication tools, those who held technological advantages dictated the fate of those who didn’t. This dynamic, vividly portrayed in many Biennale works, serves as a warning for today’s challenges — especially as general artificial intelligences (AGIs) advance exponentially.

During one of the Web Summit’s most impactful talks, Max Tegmark, a physicist and MIT researcher, echoed concerns shared by many AI experts, emphasizing the immeasurable risks of a potential runaway AGI with abilities far surpassing our cognitive capacity. He described this “entity” (possibly with an IQ of 5000, compared to Albert Einstein’s 160) as an oppressive force.

A contemporary colonizer? And us, primitive Homo sapiens, its colonized subjects?

The Aztecs and Cortés

In 1519, Montezuma and the Aztecs faced Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador who, despite being an obvious threat, was welcomed with reverence. The Aztecs’ fascination with the “other,” fueled by perceptions of divine power and promises of change, eased the path to the downfall of their vast empire. Cortés triumphed not only due to the technological superiority of his weapons or the spread of diseases but also by exploiting internal divisions and manipulating the cultural enchantment surrounding him.

This historical tragedy, like many others, reveals how underestimating risks can be fatal. Despite sensing danger, the Aztecs, perhaps mesmerized, contributed to Cortés’s consolidation of power. This inexplicable fascination resonates with modern dynamics — whether in our relationships with authoritarian leaders or with groundbreaking technologies like AIs that promise to transform the world.
At the Biennale, surrounded by artworks depicting oppressed peoples across cultures in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, I realized how we might be repeating historical mistakes, underestimating forces we cannot control.

The overwhelming excitement for AIs at Web Summit brought to mind the awe-struck Aztecs gazing at a red-haired warrior seemingly floating in a magical ship.
Art has always anticipated reality. Poetry envisions what science will one day uncover. Perhaps now, more than ever, we must deepen our connection to this form of human expression. Art might shield us from ourselves — this strange species oscillating between brilliance and barbarism, revolutionary lucidity and short-sighted foolishness.

To achieve this, we need to nurture our deepest, most ancestral abilities: intuition, sensitivity, and spirituality. Only then can we better harness the extraordinary technologies materializing before our eyes — for our benefit and that of our blue planet.

Not the other way around.