PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Mariarosaria Taddeo

Mariarosaria Taddeo is a philosopher and AI ethics researcher whose work examines AI's ethical and social effects in defence, cybersecurity and other high-risk settings. She holds an MA in Philosophy from Bari and a PhD from Padua, worked on information warfare at Hertfordshire and cybersecurity ethics at Warwick, and joined Oxford's Internet Institute in 2016. She received the 2010 Simon Award for Outstanding Research in Computing and Philosophy and the 2016 World Technology Award for Ethics; she served as Dstl Ethics Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute from 2021 to 2025 and became Professor of Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies in 2023. Her 2024 book The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Defence develops a framework for AI in defence; in 2025, she joined Intesa Sanpaolo's board and co-edited A Companion to Digital Ethics. In 2026, she leads Oxford's Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies research group and serves as editor-in-chief of Minds & Machines.

Now at
Oxford Internet Institute
Born
1980

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 2010–2016

    Two computing and philosophy awards

    She receives the Simon Award for Outstanding Research in Computing and Philosophy in 2010 and the World Technology Award for Ethics in 2016.

  2. By 2016

    Education and early research

    She holds an MA in Philosophy from Bari and a PhD in Philosophy from Padua. Before joining the Oxford Internet Institute as a researcher in 2016, she holds a Marie Curie Fellowship at Hertfordshire and works as a Research Fellow in Cybersecurity and Ethics at Warwick.

  3. 2021–2025

    Dstl Ethics Fellow

    From 2021 to 2025, she serves as Dstl Ethics Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute in London.

  4. September 2023

    Professor of Digital Ethics

    Oxford awards her the title of Professor of Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies in September 2023.

  5. 2024–2025

    The Ethics of AI in Defence

    She publishes The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Defence in 2024, a systematic philosophical treatment of ethical challenges raised by AI in defence. In February 2025, she says humanitarian-law principles still apply to AI-driven defence and identifies assigning responsibility for war crimes involving AI systems as a problem.

  6. 2025

    Director at Intesa Sanpaolo

    In 2025, she joins Intesa Sanpaolo's Board of Directors for the bank's 2025–2027 term.

  7. August 2025

    A Companion to Digital Ethics

    She co-edits A Companion to Digital Ethics with Luciano Floridi, released in August 2025. Its chapters examine artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity, cyberwarfare, sustainability and digital consent.

  8. 2026

    Leading Oxford's digital ethics group

    In 2026, she leads the Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies research group at the Oxford Internet Institute, where she is Professor of Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies. Since 2016, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of Minds & Machines, a peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of AI, philosophy and cognitive science.

Career

  1. Since 2026Oxford Internet InstituteGroup Lead
  2. Since 2016University of OxfordResearcher
  3. 2025–2027Intesa SanpaoloBoard Director
  4. 2021–2025Alan Turing InstituteDstl Ethics Fellow
  5. University of HertfordshireMarie Curie Fellow
  6. University of WarwickResearch Fellow in Cybersecurity and Ethics

Education

  1. University of Bari Aldo MoroMA in Philosophy
  2. University of PaduaPhD in Philosophy

From the biography.

  1. 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birthIncludes Mariarosaria Taddeo. We estimate that 43% of living people shaping AI work outside their country of birth (520 of 1,198 people with known birth and employment countries).
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Oxford. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Oxford. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes University of Oxford. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. OII | Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo oii.ox.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. About | Taddeo1 rosariataddeo.net. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. OII | The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Defence oii.ox.ac.uk. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Board of Directors - Intesa Sanpaolo group.intesasanpaolo.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. A Companion to Digital Ethics | Wiley wiley.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Home | Taddeo1 rosariataddeo.net. Checked 20 October 2026.