On the occasion of the exhibition Mechanical Kurds, MACRO presents a conversation between artist Hito Steyerl and Paolo Benanti, Franciscan theologian and expert in technology ethics. The conversation will focus on the transformations brought about by artificial intelligence and their political, social and ethical implications.
Starting from the questions raised by Steyerl’s practice – from the relationship between power and image production to the often invisible forms of labour underpinning new technological infrastructures – the conversation brings the artist’s perspective into dialogue with Benanti’s reflections on the ethics of artificial intelligence. The discussion forms part of a debate that in recent years has also involved the Vatican and that has found a recent expression in Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, signed on 15 May 2026 and dedicated to safeguarding the human person and human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.
The conversation takes as its starting point questions raised by Steyerl’s practice – from the relationship between power and image production to the often invisible forms of labour underpinning new technological infrastructures – bringing the artist’s perspective into dialogue with Benanti’s reflections on the ethics of artificial intelligence. The discussion forms part of a broader debate that has also involved the Vatican in recent years, and was articulated in Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, signed on 15 May 2026 and dedicated to safeguarding the human person and human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.
At a time when synthetic images, automated systems and algorithmic decision-making processes are playing an increasingly significant role in shaping and mediating reality, with consequences that extend to labour, information, conflict and geopolitical dynamics, the conversation asks who produces and governs these technologies, who bears responsibility for them, and what forms of reality, knowledge and social relations they contribute to constructing.
At a time when synthetic images, automated systems and algorithmic decision-making are increasingly shaping and mediating our experience of reality, their effects extend across labour, information, conflict and geopolitical dynamics. The conversation asks who produces and governs these technologies, who is responsible for their consequences, and what kinds of reality, knowledge and social relations they bring into being.
The conversation will be moderated by Donatella Della Ratta, a scholar specialising in digital culture and professor at John Cabot University. She is the author of Violenza Speculativa, published by Einaudi’s Maverick imprint, which explores the relationship between generative artificial intelligence and emerging forms of violence.
The event will take place in the Auditorium and will be live streamed on museomacro.it.
The conversation will be held in English with Italian subtitles.
Free admission until capacity is reached.
HITO STEYERL (Munich, 1966) is an artist, filmmaker and theorist who lives and works in Berlin. Through video, installations and writing, her practice investigates the relationship between images, technology and power, addressing issues related to the circulation of digital images, artificial intelligence, and contemporary political and social transformations. Her work has been presented at numerous international institutions, including the Centre Pompidou, Stedelijk Museum, Serpentine Galleries and Museo Reina Sofía, as well as at the Venice Biennale and documenta. She has taught at the Universität der Künste Berlin and is currently Professor of Emergent Digital Media at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich.
PAOLO BENANTI (Rome, 1973) is a Franciscan theologian of the Third Order Regular and a scholar specialising in ethics, bioethics and the philosophy of technology. His research focuses on the ethical and anthropological implications of technological innovation, with particular attention to artificial intelligence, robotics, neuroscience and posthumanism. He holds a PhD in Moral Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he teaches, and is a corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence. He has also served on institutional expert groups involved in developing Italy’s national artificial intelligence strategies.
DONATELLA DELLA RATTA is a scholar, performer and curator specialising in networked technologies and generative AI. She teaches communication at John Cabot University in Rome and was previously affiliated with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. She has curated international programmes dedicated to art and cinema from the Arab world and is co-founder of SyriaUntold, which received an award at Ars Electronica in 2014. In 2025, GEN_, the documentary she co-wrote with Gianluca Matarrese, was selected for the Sundance Film Festival. Her research on generative AI and “speculative violence” received funding through the Italian Council 2024–25 programme of the Italian Ministry of Culture. She is the author of Violenza Speculativa, forthcoming from Einaudi’s Maverick imprint and Haymarket Books in autumn 2026, which she has also developed into a multimedia lecture-performance.