From Nano to Quantum

Abstract

A significant amount of scholarship and funding has been dedicated to ethical and social studies of new and emerging science and technology (NEST), from nanotechnology to synthetic biology, and Artificial Intelligence. Quantum technologies comprise the latest NEST attracting interest from scholarship in the social sciences and humanities. While there is a small community now emerging around broader discussion of quantum technologies in society, the concepts of ethics of quantum technologies and responsible innovation are still fluid. In this article, we argue that lessons from previous instances of NEST can offer important insights into the early stages of quantum technology discourse and development. In the embryonic stages of discourse around NEST, there is often an undue emphasis on the novelty of ethical issues, leading to speculation and misplaced resources and energy. Using a lens of continuity, we revisit experiences and lessons from nanotechnology discourse. Zooming in on key characteristics of the nanoethics discourse, we use these features as analytical tools with which to assess and analyse emerging discourse around quantum technologies. We point to continuities between nano and quantum discourse, including the focus on ‘responsible’ or ‘good’ technology; the intensification of ethical issues brought about by enabling technologies; the limitations and risks of speculative ethics; the effects of ambivalence on the framing of ethics; and the importance of paying attention to the present. These issues are taken forward to avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ and to offer guidance in shaping the ethics discourse around quantum technologies into a more focused and effective debate.