Constantin Vică, philosopher, researcher, and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, was featured in a recent article on Antena 3 CNN, “We Live in Post-Literacy: The New Digital Tyranny Dominated by Smartphone and AI,” published on 26th of October 2025, where he analysed the profound shift in how modern society processes information and power.
Constantin Vică’s analysis asserts that humanity is currently exiting the “Gutenberg Parenthesis” (the historical period defined by print literacy). This transition means digital platform algorithms are effectively becoming the “new feudal lords” of our time, controlling and governing human existence. “The smartphone: I wouldn’t call it just an instrument anymore. It is, in fact, a dominant and total technology. It is a universal machine. Anything computable can now be done with the phone, and now almost everything is computable.”
This analysis underscores the serious ethical and political challenges posed by the concentration of power in these total digital technologies and the rise of algorithmic control over discourse and social processes.
The full article, authored by Mihnea Lazăr, can be read here: https://www.antena3.ro/life/traim-in-post-alfabetism-noua-tiranie-digitala-dominata-de-smartphone-si-ai-daca-citesti-acest-mesaj-faci-deja-parte-din-rezistenta-764359.html