Silvio Sangineto, AI and the human side of technology

‘The relationship between humans and machines is never merely technical, but multidimensional. That is why we must view AI as a partner in our thinking.’ From Palo Alto, Silvio Sangineto observes the impact of artificial intelligence on the world. And, in a sense, he helps shape some of its mechanisms: as a computer engineer, adjunct lecturer at Stanford University, and leadership and transformation coach for Silicon Valley companies through his firm Lift Leaders, he works for Microsoft – in a management role within the Human-AI Product Experience division – specifically on the interaction between humans and machines, exploring the human side of technology. “Yes, the human side, because no technology makes sense if society rejects it or does not understand it. And to delve deeply into it, its primary dimension must be the ethical one, the one that places humanity at the centre.”

Originally from Paola, a small town on the Tyrrhenian coast of Cosenza, Silvio Sangineto studied at Unical, from where he went on to make his mark. “I live 25 km from San Francisco, where you find everything: academia and technology, venture capital, experimental start-ups and training centres. A unique microcosm, where even the climate plays its part. The sunshine at those latitudes fosters relationships and the exchange of ideas. The advantage? An open mind, which predisposes us to meeting people and taking an interest in others.”

The Calabrian engineer, who has supported start-ups, students, professionals and big tech leaders at crucial moments of transition, is currently based in San Francisco, where he acts as a judge and coach, 50 of the most talented students from MIT, Harvard and Princeton, as part of a project involving computer scientist Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Google CEO Eric Schmidt and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. But above all, he designs leadership systems, creating ‘human-centred AI experiences to truly empower people,’ he explains. ‘Now that everything is so fast, and there are computational structures and infrastructures to instantly distribute technology across multiple devices, the pace is changing. We engineers, accustomed to thinking in terms of ‘divide and conquer’, breaking down a complex problem into simpler sub-problems, must shift our approach by developing a systemic, circular way of thinking, to learn to focus on the interconnections between all parts of a system.”

All this to say that we must drive change without fear – fear of being left behind, of being inadequate, or of being marginalised by the transformations currently taking place. ‘In institutions, organisations and businesses, it is not enough simply to reskill employees; it is not only they who must be asked to adapt. There is a problem of leadership, and therefore of direction, vision and inspiration, at the top. We must consider that, for the first time, human intelligence is faced with a force which, when unchecked, takes away rather than adds. The digital revolution, amongst its many innovations, has equipped us with numerous tools—smartphones, for example—which have expanded our capabilities, enhancing us from the outside. But humanity’s capacity for adaptation has remained the same, even in the face of faster and more overwhelming technology,” continues Sangineto. We must view AI not as a tool, but as a cognitive system. It is to humans, however, that control must remain, along with the ability to decide what is good and what is bad, even with regard to artificial intelligence. We must never delegate judgement to it.’

These are concepts that Silvio Sangineto explores in his forthcoming book, *The AI Leader Mindset: Uncomfortable Truths from Silicon Valley Leaders in the Age of AI*. Through conversations with leaders from companies and institutions such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and Apple, the book explores the challenges of leadership, renewal and personal development in an era in which artificial intelligence is redefining work and society. “Because the most important transformation is not technological, but human,” concludes Sangineto.