Bryson is recognised for broad expertise on intelligence and its impacts, advising governments, transnational agencies, and NGOs globally. She holds two degrees each in psychology and AI (BA Chicago, MSc & MPhil Edinburgh, PhD MIT). From 2002-19 she was Computer Science faculty at Bath; she has also been affiliated with Harvard Psychology, Oxford Anthropology, Mannheim Social Science Research, and the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy. During her PhD she observed confusion generated by anthropomorphised AI, leading to her first AI ethics publication “Just Another Artifact” in 1998. In 2010 she coauthored the first national-level AI ethics policy, the UK's Principles of Robotics. She presently researches the impact of technology on human cooperation, and AI/ICT governance.

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Joanna J Bryson is an academic recognised for broad expertise on intelligence, its nature and its consequences. She advises governments, transnational agencies, and NGOs globally, particularly in AI policy. She holds two degrees each in psychology and AI (BA Chicago, MSc & MPhil Edinburgh, PhD MIT). Her work has appeared in venues ranging from reddit to the journal Science. From 2002-19 she was Computer Science faculty at the University of Bath; she has also been affiliated with Harvard Psychology, Oxford Anthropology, Mannheim Social Science Research, The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, and the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy. During her PhD she observed the confusion generated by anthropomorphised AI, leading to her first AI ethics publication “Just Another Artifact” in 1998. She has remained active in the field including coauthoring the first national-level AI ethics policy, the UK’s (2011) Principles of Robotics. She continues to research both the system engineering of AI and the cognitive science of intelligence, with present focusses on the impact of technology on human cooperation, and new models of governance for AI and ICT. She is presently the Hertie School’s Professor of Ethics and Technology, a position she took up on 1 February 2020.

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Joanna Joy Bryson is a globally-recognised leader in intelligence broadly, including AI policy and AI ethics. She holds two degrees each in psychology (BA Chicago & MPhil Edinburgh) and AI (MSc Edinburgh & PhD MIT). From 2002-2019 she was employed in the Computer Science department at the University of Bath, and she has also held postdoctoral, sabbatical, and visiting positions at Harvard in Psychology, Oxford in Anthropology, Nottingham and Mannheim in Social Science Research, The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, and the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy. Her original academic focus was the use of artificial intelligence for scientific simulations of natural cognitive systems. During her PhD she first observed the confusion generated by anthropomorphised AI, leading to her first AI ethics publication “Just Another Artifact” in 1998. In 2010 her work in AI ethics was first recognised by a policy body when she was invited to participate in the UK research councils’ Robot Ethics retreat, where she was a key author of the UK’s (EPSRC/AHRC) “Principles of Robotics,” the world’s first national-level AI ethics soft policy. Since then she has continued researching the impact of technology on economies and human cooperation, transparency for AI systems, and participated in numerous policy discussions for the UK (parliament, royal society, RCUK, FCA), EU/EP/EC, OECD, Red Cross, Chatham House, WEF, UN as well as national governments and NGOs in Switzerland, the US, Canada, and Germany. At Bath she founded the Computer Science Department’s Artificial Intelligence research group, and she still directs outreach and impact for the UK’s only Centre for Doctoral Training in AI ethics, the Accountable, Responsible, and Transparent AI (ART-AI) Centre. She is arriving at Hertie in February 2020 to take up their full professorship on Ethics and Technology.

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Joanna J. Bryson is a transdisciplinary researcher on the structure and dynamics of human- and animal-like intelligence. Her research covering topics from artificial intelligence, through autonomy and robot ethics, and on to technology policy and human cooperation has appeared in venues ranging from a reddit to Science. She holds degrees in Psychology from Chicago and Edinburgh, and Artificial Intelligence from Edinburgh and MIT. She has additional professional research experience from Princeton, Oxford, Harvard, and LEGO, and technical experience in Chicago’s financial industry, and international management consultancy. Bryson is presently Professor of Ethics and Technology at Hertie School of Governance.

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