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Short abstract:

About a century after the revolution of Quantum Mechanics, new technologies are about to be produced. There are big expectations for these technologies but less is discussed about their ethical implications & environmental cost. On a warming planet, the concept of ethics must include the environment

Long abstract:

Over the last decade, many research projects regarding Quantum Technologies have started. What has been defined as the Second Quantum Revolution promises to address topics such as quantum information or chemical synthesis which should redefine many fields of work. We aim to investigate how and whether the researchers and the investors have taken into consideration the costs of such technologies as compared to the expected benefits.

We propose to organize a roundtable to raise attention to the ethical aspects of the research on Quantum Technologies. One of the purposes is to engage the audience in an open discussion at the end of the presentation. The presentation will consist of three brief talks which will introduce the following topics to start and guide the discussion:

1. What are the differences between the First and the Second Quantum Revolution? What are the expected implementations of Quantum Technologies and what is their cost of production compared to their cost of usage?

2. Which goals drive the research? Is it already aimed at something? Who will hold the production and usage of the technologies?

3. Which role will quantum technologies play in the climate crisis? Will they contribute to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 C or will they make this goal harder to reach? We propose to adopt an in-depth cost-benefit analysis approach that takes into account environmental resources, as well as societal cost to assess the impact of quantum technologies.