"Read more books — that’s how the mind develops": Italian science fiction writer Roberto Quaglia, participant of the "Inventing the Future" Symposium at the National Centre RUSSIA

One of the participants of the II International Symposium "Inventing the Future" will be Italian science fiction writer and multiple literary award winner Roberto Quaglia. The event will take place on 7–8 October 2025 at the National Centre RUSSIA and will bring together more than 7,000 representatives from the SCO, BRICS, the Asia-Pacific region, and Europe. The programme will cover the most relevant topics, from demographic trends and AI technologies to space exploration and the contribution of science fiction to the development of humanity.

Italian writer Roberto Quaglia will be taking part in the Symposium for the second time. The author of popular science fiction novels notes that the "Inventing the Future" Symposium is a unique event — not only because of the presence of thousands of fascinating guests from all over the world.

"The collective West shapes its vision of the future so that it reflects only its own view of reality. But the 'Inventing the Future' Symposium is based on a more accurate perception of facts and the awareness that the world of the future will inevitably be multipolar. In this sense, the very first Russian Symposium became a turning point for the development of the world. The future is always built on imagination, but if projects are based on lies, as is often the case in the West, an inevitable sense of unreality arises. In this regard, the 'Inventing the Future' Symposium is unique — it stems from a new paradigm of understanding the world," said Roberto Quaglia. 

The writer pointed out that today science fiction is undergoing huge changes. A striking trend of recent decades has been the rapid rise in popularity of Chinese science fiction. Roberto Quaglia sees the growing interest in Chinese authors as evidence that the future of science fiction literature worldwide is leaning towards multipolarity — especially since AI technologies greatly simplify translation and make books more accessible.

Exploring the global significance of science fiction, Roberto Quaglia noted that science fiction writers and scientists have always inspired each other, and that science fiction literature has in one way or another influenced society. For example, the AI system Grok was named after a verb coined by Robert Heinlein. In the novel "Stranger in a Strange Land", the Martian word "grok" combines the ideas of empathy, understanding, love, and unity with others — essentially everything users expect from the AI Grok today.

Roberto Quaglia admits that the future inspires him with both fear and hope. He stresses that before our eyes a new, fairer world order is emerging, based on respect for different cultures. The Italian author is highly enthusiastic about the growing potential of AI, which he aptly calls "an exoskeleton for our mind". But he warns that the obstinacy of Western elites, who seek to maintain their hegemony even at the cost of destroying the world, threatens the optimistic scenario of the planet’s future. According to Roberto Quaglia, humanity’s hope must lie in imagination, humanity, patience, and the ability to think critically.

"The collective West possesses powerful media structures that distort perceptions of reality in the interests of elites. Compared to their firepower, the rest of the world looks like David against Goliath — but it is David who is growing and maturing, while Goliath increasingly appears as a colossus with feet of clay. On a global scale, we must revive our own cultures, views, and dreams and free ourselves from the hypnotic trance induced by decades of 'Hollywoodism'. And Russia can become the flagship of this process. Russians have a deep understanding of reality and a special human warmth — a combination impossible not to fall in love with. My advice to Russian youth is not to be seduced by the 'glittering trinkets' offered by neocolonialists, only to plunder and destroy you piece by piece. Instead, read as many quality books as possible — that’s how a well-functioning mind develops," said Roberto Quaglia.