Tommaso Marinelli

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Tommaso Marinelli is a philosopher of technology and medicine whose work explores the ethical and conceptual foundations of artificial intelligence in surgery. His most-cited paper, "Is a robot surgeon with AI the ideal surgeon? A philosophical analysis" (2023), critically examines the assumptions underlying the pursuit of autonomous surgical systems, arguing that the notion of an "ideal surgeon" is not merely a technical benchmark but a deeply normative construct. By drawing on philosophical traditions from phenomenology to virtue ethics, Marinelli challenges the reduction of surgical excellence to algorithmic precision, emphasizing the irreplaceable role of embodied judgment, tacit knowledge, and ethical responsibility in clinical practice. Though his citation count is modest—reflecting the nascent stage of this interdisciplinary field—his work has already sparked dialogue among surgeons, engineers, and bioethicists, positioning him as a leading voice in the emerging subfield of surgical AI ethics. Marinelli’s contributions are particularly notable for bridging abstract philosophical inquiry with concrete technological design, offering a framework for developing AI that augments rather than replaces human expertise. His research is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the profound implications of integrating artificial intelligence into the most intimate of medical interventions.