In an attempt to project modernity while ignoring the structural shortcomings of Cuba, the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel highlighted the alleged advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the country during a meeting held this Monday at the Palace with experts and developers.
“We have to aspire to become the forefront of this, at least in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we have what it takes for that. We need to lead in this, and furthermore, this will mean a lot for the country. A country like ours can develop by applying this, with the ethics it requires, with the integrality it demands, with the coherence it entails…,” said a Díaz-Canel who looked dejected in the report from NTV.
The learned ruler found no better way to refer to AI than by calling it "this" time and again, abusing the neuter demonstrative like a child with verbal diarrhea. The language of the also-first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) is structured in Ñico López, a place where intelligence, whether natural or artificial, is the first victim of the curriculum.
In March 2021, Díaz-Canel presented his doctoral thesis titled "Government Management System based on Science and Innovation (SGGCI)." Four years later, the Doctor of Technical Sciences is unable even to familiarize himself with the appropriate terminology to refer to the set of cognitive and intellectual capabilities expressed by computer systems or combinations of algorithms, commonly known as AI.
"We need to create a culture; and just as we do with science and innovation, we must ask how we can establish a culture where everyone believes that, in order to achieve results, we need to consider what response artificial intelligence can provide," added the leader of a "continuity" characterized by disastrous outcomes, marked by economic collapse and the massive migration facing the island.
According to the site of the Presidency, the AI Development Strategy, approved in May 2024, prioritizes applications in sectors such as health, criminal investigation, transportation, and public administration. However, the reality of daily life in Cuba presents a different picture: an outdated digital infrastructure, limited internet access, and constant power outages that hinder any ambitious technological plans.
Díaz-Canel's rhetoric also included phrases like, "...this will represent a lot for the country," while deliberately omitting the context of a devastated economy, where the "internal blockade" caused by government inefficiency has been more devastating than any external sanctions.
The "continuity" that has been promoted since coming to power in 2018 has only deepened the systemic crisis of the Cuban socialist model, with a population that is increasingly impoverished and disconnected from the supposed "technological advancement" that the government claims.
While the government celebrates workshops and pilot projects on AI, the average Cuban is facing more pressing issues: food shortages, the decline of public transportation, and an overloaded healthcare system that, once a source of national pride, now operates on the brink of collapse.
Paradoxically, the "algorithms" that Díaz-Canel claims will improve citizens' lives cannot solve the lack of basic supplies or the growing social frustration. The discourse on AI from the occupant of the Palace only underscores the government's disconnection from the people's reality.
A regime that prioritizes totalitarian control and propaganda over citizen welfare, and a government whose sole concern is to silence discontent, crush dissent, and maintain its grip on power, will never – no matter how much they play with AI – be able to resolve the structural problems of a system that annihilates the individual and civil society, which are the fundamental pillars for the development of a rule of law and the progress of free, open societies oriented towards the common good.
Filed under:
