Fortune Publication: How to Prevent Quantum-A.I. Hybrids from Taking Over the World

Palo Alto, May 16, 2023—We are delighted to share our new Fortune piece titled "How to prevent quantum-A.I. hybrids from taking over the world," that showcases our Stanford-led research on Responsible Quantum Technology! The 21st century is rapidly becoming the Quantum Age. While the full realization of general-purpose quantum computers is still on the horizon, the emergence of hybrid systems that combine quantum phenomena with classical hardware is already a reality, making its way into both domestic and international markets. This convergence of quantum technology and artificial intelligence (AI) promises to unlock unprecedented advancements across various fields, but it also presents a host of complex geopolitical and grand strategy challenges that demand our immediate attention. As we stand on the precipice of this technological revolution, it is imperative that we proceed with a strong sense of responsibility, ensuring that these powerful tools are developed and deployed in a manner that aligns with our most cherished societal values.

Critical Quantum Insights for a Business Audience

The article, "How to prevent quantum-A.I. hybrids from taking over the world," published in Fortune on May 16, 2023, delves into the profound implications of this technological convergence, offering critical quantum insights for a business audience. It highlights the stark contrast between the development of quantum technology (QT) in liberal democracies, where adherence to fundamental human rights and democratic values is paramount, and its potential applications in autocratic regimes that may wield it for more nefarious purposes. The piece underscores the existential importance of international collaboration, not only on pressing global issues like climate change and inequality but also in the race for technological dominance, where the preservation of freedom and democratic principles hangs in the balance. As quantum-AI hybrids become increasingly prevalent, the authors argue that business and government leaders must engage with experts and the public to establish robust ethical standards, accountability mechanisms, and responsible technology frameworks to actively foster a competitive, values-based quantum-AI ecosystem.

In 2022, Kop & Wadhwa wrote a Foreign Policy paper titled ‘Why Quantum Computing Is Even More Dangerous Than Artificial Intelligence’, see: https://airecht.nl/blog/2022/why-quantum-computing-is-even-more-dangerous-than-artificial-intelligence-foreign-policy

The Dawn of the Quantum-AI Era: Navigating Opportunities and Risks

At the heart of this discourse is the recognition that any major technological advance inevitably raises critical questions of justice, benefit, and risk. The sheer scale and rapid pace of QT-enabled advancements, coupled with their counterintuitive nature, make these considerations all the more urgent. The potential applications are vast and transformative, ranging from quantum chemistry and drug design to logistical optimization and clean energy. However, the threats are equally significant, with the most widely understood being the imminent danger that quantum computing poses to our current cybersecurity infrastructure and data privacy.

In response to these challenges, a global conversation is underway among stakeholders to find a delicate balance between harnessing the benefits of QT and mitigating its risks. Many are turning to the established principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), which emphasize the importance of responsiveness, inclusivity, reflexivity, and anticipation. RRI posits that scientific and technological breakthroughs should be guided not only by scientific brilliance and economic incentives but also by social norms, ethical values, environmental sustainability, and public engagement. This approach encourages the integration of societal concerns throughout the entire innovation lifecycle, from the initial stages of research and development to the eventual distribution and use of new technologies.

A Framework for Responsible Quantum Innovation: The RQT Approach

Building upon this foundation, a Stanford-led interdisciplinary research group, comprising scholars from law, data science, theoretical physics, philosophy, ethics, social sciences, materials science, and innovation policy, has conceptualized a novel framework known as Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT). This framework is designed to proactively steward the development of QT toward equitable outcomes, mitigate potential risks, and foster an interdisciplinary approach to research and development. RQT embeds the key principles of RRI alongside a comprehensive consideration of the ethical, legal, socio-economic, and policy implications, collectively referred to as Quantum-ELSPI. The ultimate goal of RQT is to ensure that research and innovation efforts are aligned with societal expectations and contribute to the enhancement of planetary welfare.

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Academics, Quantum ELSPI, Quantum Technology, Quantum-AI, Stanford RQTMauritz Kop16 mei 2023Fortune, Quantum, AI, Governance, Business, Stanford RQT, Harvard, Quantum-ELSPI, RRI, Vivek Wadhwa, Mauritz Kop

Quantum Technology Impact Assessment (EU AI Alliance, European Commission)

Brussels, 20 April 2023—The emergence of powerful new capabilities in large AI models, such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), underscores the critical need to continuously improve and update technology impact assessment tools, ensuring they keep pace with rapid technological development. As defined in recent scholarship, technology impact assessment is the systematic process of monitoring and determining the unintended, indirect, or delayed societal impacts of a future technological innovation. Crucially, it is also about capitalizing on opportunities and enabling responsible innovation from the outset.

An article by Stanford Law’s Mauritz Kop on this topic is also featured on the European Commission's Futurium website.

Shaping the Quantum Innovation Process

Quantum Impact Assessments (QIAs) are emerging as vital practical tools to facilitate the responsible adoption of quantum technologies. There are several related approaches to this assessment: (1) interactive QIA, which seeks to influence and shape the innovation process; (2) constructive QIA, where social issues guide the design of the technology from its earliest stages; and (3) real-time QIA, which connects scientific R&D with social sciences and policy from the start, before a technology becomes locked-in.

Often taking the form of codes of conduct, best practices, roadmaps, and physics de-risking tools, QIA instruments can be used by governments, industry, and academia. These soft law toolsallow stakeholders to explore how current technological developments affect the world we live in and to proactively shape the innovation process toward beneficial, societally robust outcomes.

Exploratory Quantum Technology Assessment

Implementing interdisciplinary, expert-based QIAs can help raise awareness about the ethical, legal, socio-economic, and policy (ELSPI) dimensions of quantum technology, including quantum-classical hybrid systems. For instance, QIAs cultivate a deeper understanding of the potential dual-use character of quantum technology, where beneficial applications (such as quantum sensing for medical diagnostics) can exist alongside potentially harmful ones (such as the same sensors being used for autocratic surveillance).

Building on the foundational work of the 2018 AI Impact Assessment developed by ECP | Platform voor de InformatieSamenleving chaired by Prof. Kees Stuurman, this work presents a prototype of a QIA instrument: the Exploratory Quantum Technology Assessment (EQTA). This pioneering initiative was made possible through a collaboration between the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy, Quantum Delta NL (QDNL), and ECP. The EQTA will be presented by Eline de Jong and Mauritz Kop at the inaugural Stanford Responsible Quantum Technology Conference in May 2023.

Guidance for Responsible Quantum Technology Implementation

The EQTA provides a comprehensive, practical step-by-step plan that encourages stakeholders to initiate a dialogue to clarify which ethical, legal, and social aspects are important in the creation and application of quantum systems and their interaction with classical technologies. This structured approach helps make the use of quantum technology—as well as the data and algorithms that power it—more transparent and accountable from an early stage.

Looking forward, establishing a risk-based legal-ethical framework in combination with standardization, certification, technology impact assessment, and life-cycle auditing of quantum-driven systems is crucial to stewarding society towards responsible quantum innovation. Mauritz Kop’s research group has written more on this framework in their seminal article Towards Responsible Quantum Technology (Harvard).

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Towards Responsible Quantum Technology published by Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society

Boston, MA, March 21, 2023—In a landmark contribution to the global dialogue on technology governance, the Harvard Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society has published the foundational article, "Towards Responsible Quantum Technology." This significant work, the result of a deeply interdisciplinary and transatlantic collaboration, lays out a comprehensive conceptual framework for steering the development of quantum technologies (QT) in a direction that is safe, ethical, and aligned with democratic values.

The manuscript, which was also published in the Hastings Science & Technology Law Journal by the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco, and in the University of Cambridge repository -with preprints at Stanford Law, ArxiV and the European Commission’s Futurium website- represents a concerted effort to get ahead of the regulatory curve. It argues for a proactive, principled approach to governance while the technology is still malleable, learning from the often-reactive postures taken with previous technological waves like AI and the internet.

A Transatlantic Constellation of Scholars

The paper is authored by a distinguished group of international scholars led by Mauritz Kop, Visiting ‘Quantum & Law’ Scholar at Stanford and the imminent Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology. The team represents a formidable convergence of expertise from the world's leading academic institutions, including Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Cambridge, the University of Waterloo, and the Universities of Munich, Amsterdam, Maastricht, and Copenhagen.

This collaboration brought together leading lights in law, data science, theoretical quantum physics, philosophy and ethics, socioeconomics, materials science and engineering, and innovation policy. The author group includes Mateo Aboy, Eline De Jong, Urs Gasser, I. Glenn Cohen, Timo Minssen, Teresa Quintel, Mark Brongersma, Luciano Floridi, and Raymond Laflamme, whose collective insights provide a holistic and robust foundation for the proposed framework.

The RQT Framework: Integrating Quantum-ELSPI and RRI

At the heart of the paper is the conceptual framework for Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT). This framework is designed to systematically integrate considerations of the Ethical, Legal, Social, and Policy Implications (ELSPI) of quantum technologies directly into the research and development lifecycle.

The RQT framework is built upon the established dimensions of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)—anticipation, inclusion, reflection, and responsiveness. By merging these two approaches, Quantum-ELSPI and RRI, the authors have created a powerful tool for ensuring that the development of quantum is not driven solely by technical or commercial imperatives, but by a deep and abiding commitment to societal well-being.

Operationalizing Responsible Quantum Technology: The 10 Principles and Future Regulation

The "Towards Responsible Quantum Technology" paper is the first in a series of studies designed to build a comprehensive governance architecture. It lays the conceptual groundwork that is further operationalized in a subsequent study led by Kop, the "10 Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation." This second paper translates the high-level SEA framework into concrete, actionable principles for real-world application.

Ultimately, the RQT framework is intended to inform the emergent regulatory landscape for quantum technology. The authors provide an outlook on how regulatory interventions can be designed and contextualized to be effective without stifling innovation. By tailoring governance to the exceptional nature of quantum, the goal is to reduce the risk of unintended, counterproductive policy effects and to foster a thriving, responsible, and values-based quantum ecosystem. The paper concludes with a call to action for the research community and other stakeholders to build upon this foundational work, to further develop the guiding principles, and to translate them into the best practices that will define the quantum future.

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Mauritz Kop Speaks on Quantum Ethics, Intellectual Property and Innovation at NASA SWEEEP Event

On October 3, 2022, a interdisciplinary dialogue on the future of quantum technology and its societal implications took place within a consortium focused on some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Mauritz Kop, a visiting quantum and law scholar at Stanford University, was invited to address a workshop for the SouthWest Engine for Environment and Economic Prosperity (SWEEEP), a major initiative led by a consortium including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), CalTech, and California State University, Northridge. The event, part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines program, provided a platform to discuss the intricate web of ethical, legal, socio-economic, and policy implications—termed "Quantum-ELSPI"—that must be navigated as quantum technologies are harnessed to address grand challenges like water scarcity and agricultural sustainability.

The Institutional Context: NASA and the SWEEEP Mission

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), established in 1958, has a storied history of pushing the boundaries of science and technology for the benefit of humanity. While renowned for space exploration, its mission extends deeply into Earth science, utilizing its unique vantage point from space to understand and protect our home planet. From monitoring climate change and weather patterns to managing natural resources, NASA’s work is foundational to global environmental stewardship.

This commitment to terrestrial challenges is exemplified by its involvement in the SWEEEP initiative. SWEEEP is a direct response to the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program, a nationwide effort to catalyze and accelerate regional-scale, R&D-based innovation ecosystems. The program is designed to fund "Engines" that advance critical technologies, address societal challenges, promote economic growth, and cultivate regional talent, with potential funding of up to $160 million over ten years per Engine.

It was within this context of ambitious technological solution-building that Mauritz Kop was invited to provide a crucial perspective on governance and responsible innovation. The leaders of the initiative, including Edward Chow of NASA JPL and Bingbing Li of California State University Northridge, recognized that developing powerful new technologies carries a responsibility to proactively address their societal impact.

Quantum-ELSPI: A Framework for Responsible Innovation

In his address, Mauritz Kop introduced the comprehensive concept of Quantum-ELSPI, arguing for a multidisciplinary approach that integrates ethical, legal, socio-economic, and policy considerations directly into the R&D lifecycle. He stressed the importance of "building bridges between disciplines," enabling quantum physicists and engineers to communicate effectively with experts in the humanities and social sciences. The goal is not to give premature, all-encompassing answers, but to begin by asking the right questions.

For a project like SWEEEP, this means looking beyond the technical specifications of a quantum sensor to consider the legal frameworks for the data it collects, the ethical implications of its use in agriculture, and the socio-economic impact on farming communities. Kop noted that NSF reviewers would likely value such a forward-thinking awareness of the complex societal dimensions of the proposed technological interventions.

Intellectual Property in the Quantum Age: Fostering or Hindering Innovation?

A significant portion of the discussion was dedicated to the role of intellectual property (IP) in the quantum domain. Quantum computers and related systems are extraordinarily complex, comprising myriad components, each potentially protected by its own IP right. Kop described this as a "rainbow of IP rights," where patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks can create a dense and overlapping landscape.

While IP is designed to incentivize invention, he cautioned that an over-reliance on exclusive rights could lead to "IP overprotection," potentially stifling the cumulative, follow-on innovation that is essential for a burgeoning field like quantum technology. The challenge is to balance the need to protect inventions with the goal of building an open, thriving global quantum ecosystem.

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IBM Invites Mauritz Kop for Lecture on Quantum Ethics

New York, May 17, 2022—The development of quantum technology represents a significant advance in computational capability, with the potential to reshape industries, accelerate scientific discovery, and address complex problems. As with other transformative technologies, its power introduces a range of responsibilities. The relevant questions are not only about the technical capabilities of quantum mechanics, but also about the appropriate uses of the technology.

Reflecting this, IBM, a leading company in the quantum field, convened a seminar on May 17, 2022, for its New York and San Francisco teams to focus on the legal and ethical dimensions of this emerging field. The invited speaker for the event was Mauritz Kop, a visiting scholar at Stanford Law School, who presented his work on establishing a governance framework for quantum technologies to an audience of researchers, engineers, and policymakers.

The event was part of IBM's Tech for Justice initiative, a cross-divisional program dedicated to using technology to address systemic biases and advance social equity. Situating the conversation about quantum ethics within this framework indicates an understanding that principles of fairness, accountability, and transparency should be integrated into new technologies from an early stage.

The session was hosted by Dr. Aminat Adebiyi, a Research Staff Member, Experimentalist, and Maker at IBM, and moderated by Dr. Mira Wolf-Bauwens. Kop's collaboration with Wolf-Bauwens includes their shared work on the World Economic Forum's foundational principles for quantum computing, a project that highlights the role of multi-stakeholder cooperation in this area.

The Quantum Vanguard: IBM's Technological Position

To understand the context of the ethical discussion, it is useful to consider the technological landscape. IBM Quantum is one of the leading organizations in quantum computing and has achieved notable milestones in the field. Central to its strategy is the development of universal fault-tolerant quantum computers based on superconducting transmon qubits. This approach, which involves creating and manipulating quantum states in circuits cooled to cryogenic temperatures, has enabled IBM to build increasingly powerful and stable quantum processors.

Charting a Course for Responsible Quantum Development: A Summary of the Lecture

The material presented in the lecture builds upon a body of foundational research by Kop. His work in the Yale Journal of Law & Technology first proposed a comprehensive legal-ethical framework and a set of ten guiding principles for quantum technology. In the Stanford Law School Transatlantic Technology Law Forum, he explored the crucial roles of intellectual property and standardization in fostering sustainable innovation. Furthermore, in Physics World, published by the Institute of Physics, he articulated the necessity of a dedicated field of "quantum ethics," urging the physics community to engage directly with the social and moral implications of their work. Lastly, together with Luciano Floridi at Oxford, Kop conceptualized the Quantum-ELSPI framework as the ethical, legal, social, and policy implications of the suite of quantum technologies. The lecture for IBM synthesized and advanced these core themes.

Kop's lecture, "Legal and Ethical Guidelines for Quantum Technologies," was structured around the thesis that there is a timely opportunity to establish governance for quantum technology. In contrast to the development of the internet or artificial intelligence, where regulation often followed widespread adoption, it is possible to proactively embed democratic values and human rights principles into the architecture of quantum systems.

Interactive Discussion and Call to Action

The lecture was followed by an engaging Q&A session that highlighted the deep commitment of the IBM technical community to responsible innovation. The questions posed by participants explored the practical challenges and nuances of implementing ethical frameworks. Key themes of the discussion included the tangible impact of tech regulation to date, the specific processes needed to assess quantum's potential societal effects, and the distinct yet complementary roles of government and private enterprise in setting and adhering to standards.

Participants were keen to understand how a framework could effectively infuse 'humanism' into every aspect of technology development and how regulation could be used proactively to shape an emerging field for the better. The dialogue also addressed the most significant challenges facing quantum regulation specifically and the strategies required to overcome them.

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Blog over Kunstmatige Intelligentie, Quantum, Deep Learning, Blockchain en Big Data Law

Critical Quantum Insights for a Business Audience

The Dawn of the Quantum-AI Era: Navigating Opportunities and Risks

A Framework for Responsible Quantum Innovation: The RQT Approach

Shaping the Quantum Innovation Process

Exploratory Quantum Technology Assessment

Guidance for Responsible Quantum Technology Implementation

A Transatlantic Constellation of Scholars

The RQT Framework: Integrating Quantum-ELSPI and RRI

Operationalizing Responsible Quantum Technology: The 10 Principles and Future Regulation

The Institutional Context: NASA and the SWEEEP Mission

Quantum-ELSPI: A Framework for Responsible Innovation

Intellectual Property in the Quantum Age: Fostering or Hindering Innovation?

The Quantum Vanguard: IBM's Technological Position

Charting a Course for Responsible Quantum Development: A Summary of the Lecture

Interactive Discussion and Call to Action

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