Nobel Prize winner Giorgio Parisi delivered a lecture titled “Artificial Intelligence, Research, and Applications” at the University of Siena during the inauguration of the institution’s 785th academic year. The physicist summarized the findings derived from research on multilayer neural networks—programs that emulate decision-making processes akin to the human brain—and their different applications: "The latest models", Professor Parisi stated, "have proven exceptionally successful and perform extraordinary and extremely valuable tasks. They possess a form of reasoning, specifically the ability to explain the various steps undertaken; however, they lack an internal perspective, a comprehensive model of the world. These models are, in essence, limited to language: they possess knowledge solely of the realm of words, lacking a physical form and consequently any direct perception of reality. They are disembodied, possessing solely syntactic-semantic knowledge (pertaining to the relationships between words) rather than ontological understanding (concerning the nature of objects and relationships in the real world)". Parisi, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on complex systems, finished his lecture by emphasizing the need of public AI research. He also underlined the importance of promoting public sector regulation, sharing expertise, and establishing a European Center for Artificial Intelligence to serve as a meeting point and liaison between European scholars and industry.