Take care not to portray capitalists as immoral until proven otherwise

To the Editor – Saturday’s interesting editorial on the fine imposed on Uber raises concerns about “the risk that a rule designed to prevent arbitrary decisions might end up making every automated system more expensive and complicated”. This raises a fundamental issue: perhaps it is time for disruptive platforms and start-ups to come to terms with the simple necessity of complying with general rules. I am not talking about painful and illegitimate ad hoc rules designed to prevent the emergence of sacrosanct competition, but about general rules. Airbnb is all very well (who amongst us doesn’t use it?), but it must still pay taxes, tourist levies and comply with health regulations, etc., just like its competitors. Uber is fine (who amongst us doesn’t use it?), but the rules on automation and AI must apply to it too. Otherwise, rather than breaking them, they ought to have the courage to try to get them amended first. All of this, ultimately, is summed up very well in Leo XIV’s "Magnifica Humanitas": “These criteria are not a brake on innovation: in reality, they make it liveable and human”. And again: “These processes must be governed with foresight: by institutions capable of regulating without stifling and of protecting without taking over; by businesses that recognise work and dignity as a measure of success.” The point, perhaps, is precisely this: not to choose between innovation and rules, but to demand that innovation, too, accept those rules that make peaceful coexistence possible. All the best with your work.

Quite right, Mr De Marchi, though there are two points to consider. At the Rimini Meeting, the Pope highlighted a crucial point relating to this issue. You will have heard him say: “We must rein in technological development when it becomes pervasive and destructive”. So, be careful not to indulge in Luddism, and be careful not to portray capitalists as immoral until proven otherwise. Innovators in the world of technology – as I would call them – must abide by the rules, just like everyone else, but in Italy the issue seems different to me: conservatism is portrayed as an obstacle to technological progress, and those who represent technological innovation are often treated as political scalps to be offered up to voters, rather than as useful agents in creating the right conditions for greater competition and, consequently, more opportunities. If we are to talk about rules in this regard, perhaps this is where we should start.