Mario Pergolini: 'I Once Said Phil Collins Had Died, and It Was False'

Media personality Mario Pergolini reflected on his extensive career, tracing the transformations in media from the 1980s to the current digital era. Throughout his decades-long influence on the local media landscape, Pergolini consistently aimed to anticipate technological shifts affecting content and audience engagement.

Pergolini candidly acknowledged past mistakes made in the pursuit of breaking news and immediacy. "I once said Phil Collins had died and it was false," he admitted when asked about the risks of operating in an environment where speed often compromises journalistic rigor. He also addressed how artificial intelligence is reshaping the media industry, mentioning that his program, "Otro Día Perdido," utilizes synthetic characters, such as 'Echenique,' who are accepted by audiences despite their artificial nature.

"We have Echenique, who is not human. And if you look at social media, they even compliment his clothes. Almost 30% of people under 30 follow synthetic characters, who don't exist. And even if they know it, they don't care," Pergolini observed. He added, "Perhaps today the message matters more than who says it. Since Echenique has a certain stance and way of speaking, many believe he is a doctor in Comparative History."

Pergolini's entrepreneurial vision, which previously led him to develop the world's first globally streamed program, is now being applied to new challenges. Among these is the development of ATO, a device designed for the elderly to combat the growing epidemic of loneliness. "It's an epidemic of loneliness, it's tremendous," he stated about a project driven by his personal family experience after his mother's blindness. This technology, based on natural language and AI models, aims to provide conversational companionship that goes beyond simple technical interaction.