Mariarosaria Taddeo is Professor of Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), University of Oxford, where she leads the Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies research group. Her work focuses on digital ethics, the analysis of the ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies in high risk domains, including national defence, cybersecurity, cyber conflicts. Her research has been published in leading journals including Nature, Nature Machine Intelligence, Science, and Science Robotics.
Taddeo holds an MA in Philosophy from the University of Bari, where her thesis addressed the Symbol Grounding Problem, and a PhD (Doctor Europeus) in Philosophy from the University of Padua, with doctoral research focused on the epistemic and ethical implications of trust in distributed artificial systems. This early work laid the conceptual foundations for her sustained engagement with two interconnected areas: the ethical implications of AI for national defence and security, and the broader field of digital ethics, including privacy, transparency, algorithmic accountability, and the governance of digital innovation.
She has published more than 150 articles in these areas (full list of publications is available here), and her work has shaped foundational debates about what digital ethics is and how it should inform policy and institutional design. Her recent books include The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Defence (Oxford University Press, 2024), the first systematic philosophical treatment of the ethical challenges posed by AI integration in defence contexts, and A Companion to Digital Ethics (eds. Floridi and Taddeo, Wiley, 2025).
Prior to joining the OII, Taddeo held a Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Hertfordshire, working on information warfare and its ethical implications, and was subsequently Research Fellow in Cybersecurity and Ethics at the University of Warwick. She joined the OII as a Senior Research Fellow, was appointed Associate Professor in January 2020, and was awarded the Title of Distinction of Professor of Digital Ethics and Defence Technologies by the University of Oxford in September 2023. Between 2021 and 2025 she was Dstl Ethics Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, London.
Among the most active policy-engaged scholars in her field, Professor Taddeo has served on the Ethics Advisory Panel to the UK Ministry of Defence since 2021, represented the United Kingdom on the NATO Human Factors and Medicine Exploratory Team on Operational Ethics between 2018 and 2020, and served as Oxford Fellow at the Future Council for Cybersecurity of the World Economic Forum between 2016 and 2018. Since 2016 she has been Editor-in-Chief of Minds & Machines (SpringerNature).
Professor Taddeo has received numerous honours for her scholarship and public impact, including the 2010 Simon Award for Outstanding Research in Computing and Philosophy, the 2016 World Technology Award for Ethics, recognition by InspiringFifty among the most inspiring fifty Italian women working in technology (2018), and by ORBIT among the top one hundred women working on the ethics of AI globally. In 2020, she was named one of twelve Outstanding Rising Talents by the Women’s Forum for Economy and Society. In 2023, she was awarded the title of Grande Ufficiale al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, one of Italy’s highest civic honours.
Mariarosaria Taddeo’s main research areas are Digital Ethics, Philosophy of Technology, Ethics of Cyber Conflicts and Cybersecurity.
By Antonia-Felicia Toffert, Katharina Klotz, Huw Roberts, Cyril Birks, and Mariarosaria Taddeo
AI ethics in defence faces a gap between principles and practice. Reviewing 1,085 studies, this paper identifies seven interconnected barriers and proposes strategies to strengthen governance, build capacity, and embed ethics across the AI lifecycle.
Read moreI serve as:
2025 — Member of the Board of Directors of Intesa San Paolo Bank
2023 — Member of the Stakeholders Advisory Body of REMIT — Reignate Multilateralism via Technology
2023 — Member of the Advisory Body of the BRAID Programme — Bridging Responsible AI Divides Programme
2023 — Member of the Board of the Italian Institute of Technology
2023 — Member of the Board of United Ventures, Italy
2021 — Member of the Ethics Advisory Panel on AI of the Ministry of Defence, UK
2020 — Advisor to Clearbox.AI
I conduct my research in line with the University's academic integrity code of practice.
With Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo and Sir Chris Deverell
Our experts discuss why AI adoption in defence is slow - covering procurement, regulation, and tech hurdles - and how conflicts like the Ukraine war shape its future. They also call for public debate on risks and ethics.
With Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo
Defence establishments worldwide now recognise artificial intelligence (AI) as a pivotal asset to secure a strategic advantage. Consequently, the race to harness AI for defence purposes is accelerating globally.
With Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo and Andreas Tsamados
Dr Mariarosaria Taddeo is Senior Researcher Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute and Deputy Director of the Digital Ethics Lab. She will discuss the use of AI and it's associated trust issues in national defence.
31 March 2025
The OII's Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo explores the digitalisation of defence and its intersection with liberal democratic values.
3 February 2025
In Conversation with Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo, Oxford Internet Institute discussing the ethics of AI in defence.
22 October 2024
A new comment piece by Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo, published in leading journal Nature, proposes six principles for responsible design and development of quantum technologies for defence.
27 October 2023
The OII is leading the debate on Artificial Intelligence. Generative AI has been a key area of interest for faculty, researchers and students for many years. This article brings together some of this work to date and highlights forthcoming work.
Channel 4 News, 11 March 2026
As tensions between the US and Iran rise, with both sides turning to AI in military operations, Prof. Mariarosaria Taddeo (OII) spoke to Channel 4 News about what responsible use of AI in warfare should look like.
cpbc TV, 15 February 2026
The OII’s Prof Mariarsaria Taddeo shares her insights on the need for greater governance in the design of AI systems.
Politico, 17 December 2025
The EU wants to regulate, while the U.S. government is letting companies run free. What’s behind the divergent approaches goes back a century. The OII's Prof. Mariarosaria Taddeo comments.
Professor Taddeo welcomes proposals for DPhil research projects examining the conceptual, ethical, and governance implications of the design, development, and deployment of digital technologies—from data collection, crypto to artificial intelligence and quantum systems. Projects that explore the design, development, or application of digital technologies in high-risk domains, including national defence and security, healthcare, and finance, are particularly encouraged.
Digital Ethics explores the ethical challenges posed by digital technologies, particularly those involving data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence.
