pThis book centers around a dialogue between Roger Penrose and Emanuele Severino about one of most intriguing topics of our times, the comparison of artificial intelligence and natural intelligence, as well as its extension to the notions of human and machine consciousness.pAdditional insightful essays by Mauro D'Ariano, Federico Faggin, Ines Testoni, Giuseppe Vitiello and an introduction of Fabio Scardigli complete the book and illuminate different aspects of the debate. pppAlthough from completely different points of view, all the authors seem to converge on the idea that it is almost impossible to have real intelligence without a form of consciousness. In fact, consciousness, often conceived as an enigmatic mirror of reality but is it really a mirror, is a phenomenon under intense investigation by science and technology, particularly in recent decades. Where does this phenomenon originate from in humans, and perhaps also in animals Is it reproducible on some device Do we have a theo