Il paradiso perduto e l’illusione del restauro: biodiversità, immaginario e responsabilità

Riccardo Guarino reflects on how artificial intelligence mirrors human cultural perceptions, using AI-generated images of “environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems” to explore our distorted view of nature. While rich in variety, such images exaggerate animal life and omit humans, revealing a symbolic separation between nature and the technosphere. Guarino compares this contrast to Bosch’s paintings, where paradise is organic and fluid, but hell is geometric and urban — a metaphor for our alienation from the natural world. Modern anxiety, he argues, stems from living in artificial systems that promise comfort but erode individual autonomy. Our idealization of biodiversity recalls a “lost paradise,” not the wild nature of Dante or Leopardi, but the harmonious rural landscapes of pre-industrial Europe. Yet, the quest to conserve biodiversity often hides contradictions: to preserve some areas, we overexploit others. Environmental restoration has become a global mission, involving engineers, economists, and policymakers, but technical expertise is increasingly sidelined. Despite grand slogans like “plant three billion trees,” ecological science and education are underfunded. Guarino warns that without genuine ecological knowledge and long-term monitoring, restoration risks becoming superficial — a “parody” of true conservation. Real ecological transition, he concludes, requires not just action, but understanding.