Professor Mirko Farina

Mirko Farina is Professor of Philosophy of Technology and AI in the School of Philosophy and Social Development at Huaqiao University, Talent C Level of the Fujian Province, and Director of the BRICS Lab for Embodied AI and Human-Machine Interaction at the Institute for Digital Economy and Artificial Systems [IDEAS] established -under the framework of the 'BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution'- in Xiamen (People' Republic of China), by Xiamen University [XMU], Lomonosov Moscow State University [MSU] and Xiamen Municipal People's Government.

During his career Professor Farina:

· published 5 books (Oxford University Press; Routledge (3x); Elsevier),  

· 4 special issues (International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, Synthese; Philosophy & Technology and Frontiers in Psychology) and more than

· 130 academic publications, of which more than 60 papers in Q1 journals (in cognitive science, philosophy, and computer science) such as Synthese, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Topoi; IEEE Technology and Society Magazine; IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems, Technology and Society, Behavioral Brain Sciences, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction; American Journal of Bioethics, Biology and Philosophy, Computer Science Review, Philosophy & Technology, Neurocomputing, AI & Society, Social Epistemology, Philosophia, Nanoethics, Neuroethics, Scientific Reports, History of Philosophy and the Life Sciences, International Journal of Public Health etc) and 20 book chapters for leading publishing houses (Oxford University Press, MIT Press, Routledge, Springer Nature etc);

· delivered more than 110 talks across 4 continents in very prestigious venues (such as University of Oxford, King’s College London, University of Edinburgh, Moscow State University, Moscow Institute for International Relations, ITMO, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Xian Jiao Tong University, Pekin University, Saint Petersburg State University, Institute of Philosophy in London, National University of Australia, Monash University, University of Sydney, Macquarie University, etc);

· participated and contributed to prestigious events (such as the World Conference of AI in Shanghai, 2025; the World Youth Summit in Nizhzny Novogorod, 2025; the BRICS Forum on Development of Industrial Internet and Digital Manufacturing in Xiamen, 2024 and 2023; the Baltic Platform in Veliki Novgorod, 2024; The International Science Symposium ‘Inventing the Future’ in Moscow, 2024, The the Astana Club in Astana, 2020, and the G20 in Rome, 2021);

· received funds for approximately 3millions USD (from the Fujian Province, The Jiangsu Province, The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, The British Academy, Huawei Technologies, The Russian Science Foundation, The Australian Government etc) and

· reviewed more than 70 papers for leading journals in his field of research (such as Communications of the ACM, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Technology in Society, Cognitive Science, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Bioethics, International Journal of Human Computer Interaction; Synthese, Phenomenology and Cognitive Science, TopiCS, Biology and Philosophy, Minds and Machines, Philosophical Psychology, Phenomology and the Cognitive Sciences, Topoi, etc),

In addition: Prof Farina is a.the founding editor and co-editor in chief- together with Prof Chen Jin (Tsinghua University) and Prof Rongrong Ji (Xiamen University)- of 'AI & Innovation' (Wiley) an international, multi-disciplinary journal sponsored by the Institute for Digital Economy and Artificial Systems of Xiamen City and developed in strategic partnership with both the Research Center for Technological Innovation at Tsinghua University and with the Institute of Artificial Intelligence of Xiamen University; b. the Co-Editor in Chief with Prof Chen Jin (Tsinghua University) of a Permanent Collection titled:  ‘Sustainable Digital Development: Business, Values, and Governance’ which is published by Springer (SN Social Science and SN Business and Economics), and c.the Editor in Chief of a Book series, titled: ‘Anthem Advances in AI & Innovation’ (Anthem Press).

Professor Farina is also a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Innovation Studies [IJIS]; an international, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open access journal of innovation studies and entrepreneurship published quarterly by Tsinghua University and of SN Social Science and SN Business and Economics (Springer).

Prior to take up his current position Professor Farina held a number of positions (including a prestigious British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship) at different universities in Russia (e.g., Innopolis University), Kazakhstan (e.g.,Nazarbayev University), and The UK (e.g., King’s College London). He also held visiting positions a Tsinghua University, Aarhus University, Ruhr University Bochum, HSE Moscow, MGIMO, Saint Petersburg State University, Western Caspian University, among the others. Professor Farina hold a PhD in Cognitive Science (Sydney, 2016), an MPhil in Philosophy of Mind (University of Edinburgh, 2011); an MSC by Research in Logic and Philosophy of Science (University of Milan, 2009) and an BA in Philosophy (University of Milan, 2007).

The BRICS Lab for Embodied AI and Human-Machine Interaction
The BRICS Lab for Embodied AI and Human Machine Interaction (EAI & HMI Lab) consists of a team of computer scientists, philosophers, neuroscientists, economists, social scientists, and industry practitioners, investigating the relationship between humans, cognition, AI technologies, and the associated ethical problems related to their usage in society. In the cognitive sciences, there is a shift toward a view of cognition as a property of systems that are larger than isolated individuals (distributed cognition). According to this view, collaborating people and their embodied artifacts can engage in richly scaffolded, environmentally involving partnerships capable of enhancing and augmenting their cognitive profiles. Members of the EAI & HMI Lab are united in the belief that distributed cognition represents a rich and fertile framework for designing, producing, and evaluating new models of human cognition, especially but not uniquely in collaborative environments, and within the context of ever-increasing human-machine interaction. They are also committed to exploring how such a view of cognition can contribute to better understand the grand challenges that the development and implementation of AI technologies poses to humanity, hence ready to analyze the changes that AI may bring upon many aspects of our lives, including our values and -as a consequence- contribute to the design, production, and adoption of socio-technical systems capable of ensuring a fair, inclusive, and responsible usage of AI in society.

The Lab brings together leading scholars from top institutions worldwide, including:

Chen Jin (Tsinghua University); Duncan Pritchard (UC Irvine); Witold Pedrycz (University of Alberta); Liu Fenrong (Tsinghua University); Zhiwu Li (Macau University of Science and Technology); John Sutton (University of Stirling); Andrea Lavazza (Pegaso University); Vincent Blok (Erasmus University, Rotterdam); Giuseppe Sartori (University of Padua); Lorenzo Magnani (University of Pavia); Paolo Ciancarini (University of Bologna); Dianhui Wang (Qingdao University); Xiaojun Ding (Xi'An Jiaotong University); Elena Zinovieva (MGIMO); Omid Khatin-Zadeh (UESTC); Giancarlo Succi (University of Bologna)

TOP 15, RECENT, PUBLICATIONS (SELECTED)

BOOKS
1.Farina, M., Yu, X., Chen, J. (2025). Digital Development Technology Ethics and Governance. London, UK: Routledge

2. Farina, M.., Lavazza, A, Pritchard, D. (2024). Expertise: Philosophical Perspectives Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press (Engaging Philosophy Series).

3. Farina, M., Lavazza, A. (2024). Philosophy. Expertise. and the Myth of Neutrality. Routledge Studies in Contemporary, Philosophy, London, UK: Routledge

PAPERS
4. Farina, M., Ding, X., Yu, X., Lavazza, A. (2026). The Rise of Quantum Computing: Technological Applications, Ethical Challenges, and Prospects for the Extended Mind. Nanoethics [recently rebranded: Ethics and Society], 20, 11, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11569-026-00502-6

5. Lavazza, A., Farina, M.* (2026). Generative AI as a Knowledge Distribution System. Social Epistemology, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02691728.2026.2623557
*corresponding author  

6.Farina, M., Ding, X., Lavazza, A., Changshen, L. (2026). Neuromorphic Computing and Extended Memory. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-026-00800-8

7. Farina, M., Lavazza, A. (2026). 6G and Embodied AI: Benefits and Risks of Increasingly Extended Minds. Neuroethics,  19, 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-026-09632-w 14.    

8. Salloum, A., Savin, S., Kholodov, Y., Ryzhakov, G., Farina, M.*;**, Oseledets, I. (2026). Quantum Annealing for Inverse Kinematics in Robotics. Scientific Reports, 16, 4244, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-34346-z
*co-corresponding author

9. Yang, H; Li, Z.; Pedrycz, W., Farina, M. (2025). Deep Learning from Crowds on a Healthy Data Diet. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems, 55, 9, 6150-6163 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11060847

10. Farina, M., Yuxuan, W., Kladko, S. (2025). Ethical and Epistemological Reflections on Autonomous AI-powered Agents. Topoi, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-025-10218-z

11. Farina, M., Lavazza, A. (2025). Transforming Expertise to Realize ARIE's Full Potential American Joumal of Bioethics, 25. 6, 117-120 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15265161.2025.2497996

12.Farina, M, Lavazza, A. (2024). The NeuroGate: neuromorphic intelligence, extended mind, and neurorights. Synthese, 204. 148, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-024-04795-6

13.Farina, M. Ahmad, U., Taha, A., Younes, H., Mesbah, Y, Yu, X, Pedrycz, W. (2024). Sparsity in Transformers: a Systematic Literature Review, NeuroComputing, 582, 127468, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092523122400239X

14.Lavazza, A, Farina, M. (2023). Leveraging Autonomous Weapon Systems: Realism and Humanitarianism in Modern Warfare. Technology in Society, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102322

15.Farina, M., Lavazza, A. (2022). Mind Embedded or Extended: Transhumanist and Posthumanist Reflections in Support of the Extended Mind Thesis. Synthese, 200, 507, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-022-03963-W