Hay Festival Segovia 2023

The technological revolution, the climate crisis and the increase in social inequality, phenomena with unprecedented disruptive potential, place education and culture at the center of the debate: only through militant humanism can the negative effects of such transformative technologies be counteracted such as Artificial Intelligence, as well as guaranteeing a reasonably sustainable future. The philosopher Pilar Cortada, director of Eina Obra; the engineer Xavier Ginesta, founder of Voxel and President of the foundation Humanitas internacional, the writer and columnist Gustavo Martín Garzo, and the director of Programming of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) Inma Ballesteros, will talk in a discussion moderated by Miquel Molina, deputy director of La Vanguardia and writer. The event is presented by Sheila Cremaschi, director of the Hay Festival and chosen by Forbes among the 75 Latin women to follow 2024.

Event in Spanish

In a world where advances in technology will enhance our efficiency and perform many of our tasks for us, creativity and other essentially human skills will become increasingly valuable.

In this inaugural panel the young singer and environmental activist Sara Abad, the Galician neuroscientist, professor and researcher in New York; Susana Martínez-Conde, the pilosopher Pilar Cortada, director of Eina Obra —an initiative aimed at promoting the transition towards socially and ecologically sustainable practices through design and art— and professor at the State University of New York; the author of books on the human essence and technology entrepreneur Xavier Ginesta and other guests will take part in this discussion about the brain and its relationship to creativity along with the winner of the 2014 Princesa de Girona Social Award and Community Builder of Banco Sabadell Foundation, Mohamed El Amrani.

There will be a book signing at the end of the event in the room next to the entrance of IE University

With simultaneous translation from Spanish to English

Culture doesn’t live in an ivory tower, it’s a street weapon, like technology. Both are dual, like today's digital products. They can be used to call your mom, or trigger a military objective. This is the New Cultural Revolution of China & Co., making us all barbarians. Culture and technology are soft power spearheads, born in the USA. They are the faithful squires of hard power – economy and armies. Technology can be a military as well as a cultural weapon. From this perspective, two polemicists, Enrique Dans and José Félix Valdivieso, will try to shed light on the barbaric technological nature of culture.

There is no technology issue that Enrique Dans has not touched. His blog >ED is among the most read in the world. He is also the author of the bestseller Todo vuelve a cambiar ('Everything Changes Again'). José Félix Valdivieso is the author of several books of poetry, short stories and graffiti. His essay China para los nuevos bárbaros ('China for the New Barbarians') was chosen as Book of the Week by leading Spanish dailies El País and El Mundo.

"Spain is obsessed with British culture", "British writers can’t get enough of Spanish history". Two writers who have lived in and written about each other’s countries will consider whether these truisms hold water. We will look at where this mutual fascination comes from, where it’s going and the role of culture in the wider UK/Spain relationship. Anna Bosch is a journalist for RTVE, specialising in international news. She has been correspondent in London, Washington and Madrid, is co-author of Europa soy yo and author of El año que llegó Putin. Giles Tremlett is an author, journalist and biographer based in Madrid. He has written six narrative non-fiction books and biographies that have been published in the US, UK and Spain. A former foreign correspondent, he has travelled widely across Iberia, the Maghreb and Latin America.

The discussion will be moderated by Debbi Christophers, cultural attaché at the British Embassy in Madrid.

At the end of the event, the authors will sign copies of their books

Event in Spanish