Joanna J. Bryson
Professor of Ethics and Technology, Hertie School, Berlin
Training in psychology and AI
Joanna J. Bryson studies intelligence, both natural and artificial, and technology policy[1]. She holds a BA in behavioural science from the University of Chicago, awarded in 1986[2]. She took an MSc in artificial intelligence at the University of Edinburgh in 1992 and an MPhil in psychology there in 2000[2].
She completed her PhD in computer science at MIT in June 2001[2]. Her PhD contribution was Behavior-Oriented Design (BOD), a systems engineering method for real-time AI that has to manage conflicting goals[1]. BOD was first designed for humanoid robotics and has mainly influenced the AI of computer game characters[1].
In 1995 and 1998 she worked with LEGO, including on the programmability of the robot kit that became Mindstorms[2]. In February 2025 UCLouvain gave her an honorary doctorate for contributions to transparency and accountability in AI and robotics[2].
From Bath to the Hertie School
Bryson taught computer science at the University of Bath from 2002, first as a lecturer and then as a reader until January 2020[2]. At Bath she founded the AI research group[2]. Her other affiliations have included Harvard Psychology, Oxford Anthropology and Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy[1][2].
While at Bath she took part in the UK research councils' Robot Ethics retreat[1]. There she co-wrote the EPSRC and AHRC Principles of Robotics, which her biography calls the world's first national-level AI ethics soft policy[1].
Since February 2020 she has been Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School in Berlin[1][2]. She is a founding member of its Centre for Digital Governance[2].
Research on bias and governance
In 2017 Bryson co-wrote a paper in Science with Aylin Caliskan and Arvind Narayanan titled "Semantics derived automatically from language corpora contain human-like biases"[2]. In 2025 the International Congress of Basic Science selected that paper for a Frontiers of Science Award[2]. In 2024 she published "Governing society with flexible AI" in Science[2].
Her current research looks at the impact of intelligent technology on economies, security and human cooperation[1]. She also studies transparency for and through AI systems, the effects of technology on power, the future of labour and digital governance[1].
In June 2017 she received the CogX AI Innovation Award for outstanding contribution to AI ethics[2]. In 2017 she was also one of three recipients worldwide of the AXA Research Fund award for responsible AI[2].
Advising governments
Bryson has advised the UN, UNESCO, the EU, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the OECD and national governments on AI policy[1]. Germany selected her as one of its experts for the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)[2]. From January 2021 she was one of the two founding co-chairs of GPAI's AI governance subcommittee[2].
She is an appointed expert of UNESCO's Women4Ethical AI network, and she serves on the ethics advisory board of the Estonian Centre of Excellence in AI for 2024 to 2031[2]. She has also sat on the advisory board of the AI governance company saidot.ai since 2022[2].
On 2 October 2025 she gave a keynote at GOTO Copenhagen titled "AI, Corporate Responsibility, and Democratic Legitimacy – Is DevOps the Answer?"[3]. In a July 2025 interview with Gulan Media she said: "It isn't useful to think of AI as any kind of actor, and certainly not a unitary actor."[4] She warned in the same interview that "everyone should be terrified by the fact that a government might have the power to just pull the plug on their devices"[4].
Known for
- Co-author of the UK Principles of Robotics
- Research on bias in language models (Science, 2017)
- Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School
- AI policy advice to the UN, EU, OECD and GPAI
Sources
- Joanna J. Bryson: biographies (October 2026 and July 2025 versions) — checked 8 Nov 2026
- Hertie School: Joanna J. Bryson CV, June 2025 (PDF) — checked 8 Nov 2026
- GOTO Copenhagen 2025: Joanna Bryson speaker page — checked 8 Nov 2026
- Gulan Media: Joanna Bryson on AI, Regulation, and Global Cooperation, 20 July 2025 — checked 8 Nov 2026