ST. PETERSBURG, May 27. /TASS/. People will not turn into ‘machines’ with the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the robotization of society as the understanding of what it means to be human still remains, High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations Miguel Angel Moratinos told TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman in an interview.
According to Moratinos, spirituality is more required for people today than ever, because it is a part of human nature.
"People with this artificial intelligence, with this robotization of the societies, they are creating to the human beings the sense that we will be machine," he said. "No, machine, no, we will not be machine."
"We will be human beings with brain, with capacity to have, you know, belief, certain beliefs, certain moral and ethic code," Moratinos continued. "And so that is the reason religion is coming back in a different manner. And it's needed because it's part of our sense of equilibrium and happiness as citizens of the world."
Moratinos added that it was a big honor for him to be appointed as the UN Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia.
"I think, for me, I'm extremely honored. And I express to the Secretary General all my gratitude and thanks that he has deposited his trust, and confidence in my person," he said. "I already have the portfolio of how to combat anti-Semitism. And now I have this important challenge. Because it's a challenge, because we cannot ignore that today Islamophobia is growing."
According to the UN special envoy’s, Islamophobia is one of the major present-day concerns.
"Wherever you go, in Europe mainly, but also even here, in this debate we have, during our debate, there was this issue of Islam," he said. "There is the problem between Pakistan and India."
"There is, of course, a lot of positive elements in Indonesia, in the eastern part of Asia, that Islam is developing, changing, adapting to the new reality," Moratinos carried on. "But what is true, that in the main, let's say, capital of the European Union and even the United States, this Islamophobia is growing. Why? Because there is a lack of clearance of what is Islam."
"There is a lot of manipulation. There is a lot of, let's say, misunderstanding," the UN official stated. "This has been used, instrumentalized for other reasons. And so, my role will be to work with all the main stakeholders in order to explain what is Islam."
"Islam is like Christianity or like Judaism, like any other faith that contributes to the sense of the person that they have this kind of spirituality," Moratinos said.
The Alliance of Civilizations is an international organization operating under the auspices of the United Nations since 2005 with the aim of enhancing international interaction against extremism through inter-ethnic, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation.