Applying lessons from emerging technology governance and building a roadmap for quantum technology
Gary Marchant, a Regents’ Professor of Law and faculty director of the Center for Law, Science and Innovation, has spent 25 years working in emerging technology governance. During this time, he’s seen many waves of technologies come and go, each frequently being described as “the next big thing” in technology.
Today, he is using his experience and partnership with an inter-disciplinary group of experts to extract lessons and recommendations from the recent history of technology governance in biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence to tackle the latest emerging technology taking the world by storm: quantum technology.
So, why is quantum technology expected to be such a game-changer? In short, quantum technology represents a “completely new approach to computing,” which can “perform complex tasks that would be impossible with classical systems.” Similar to the emerging technologies that came before quantum technology, current regulations are limited, and governance challenges are expected to arise. That’s where Marchant’s research comes into play.
His grant-funded research with the Quantum Collaborative examines three technology case studies and extracts 15 lessons that apply to the governance of quantum technology. It also examines seven types of governance frameworks that leading national and international organizations have proposed around prior emerging technologies. Each framework emphasizes a different focus on governance: equitable, agile/adaptive, anticipatory, soft law, coordinated and international.
By analyzing these frameworks and the three technology case studies, Marchant and his team identified eight common governance pillars for nanotechnology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, and projected how these will apply to Quantum technology.
The Quantum Collaborative spoke with Marchant to learn more about how his research provides a comprehensive roadmap, including lessons and recommendations for the coming challenges of quantum technology governance. Here’s what he had to say about his work, the findings so far, and his hopes for the future of quantum technology governance.
Question: Could you start by giving us an overview of your project as if you were explaining it to your aunt?
Answer: We frequently hear people describe Quantum technology as “the next big thing” in technology. But now, we’ve had a series of previous “next big thing” technologies. Our project looks at the governance lessons from three of these previous technologies – biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence – and how these lessons may apply to quantum governance.
Q: What inspired you to research this particular topic?
A: I have been working in emerging technology governance for 25 years. During this time, I’ve observed a pattern: we move from one technology to another, so I wanted to apply that learning to quantum, the latest emerging technology.
Q: Could you explain the significance of your research? What impact will it have on quantum science – or the world?
A: The governance of previous emerging technologies has resulted in some significant problems. By examining these historical problems, we can hopefully avoid similar problems for quantum technology.
Q: What challenges have you run into in your research, and how have you managed them?
A: There is so much information available that it was hard to try to assimilate all the experience with just a couple of months of research.
Q: Can you share any exciting or unexpected findings or breakthroughs from your research so far?
A: Yes, we have had quite a few relevant insights. For example, we found that in the history of biotechnology, very rigorous regulation of a new technology with uncertain and unproven risks had the effect of forcing all the small and medium-sized companies, as well as academic researchers, out of the market.
A second lesson from AI is that while soft law is critical for effective early governance of an emerging technology, stakeholders need to converge on one or two primary soft law approaches early on, to avoid a blizzard of different programs, which we see now with several hundred soft law programs available for AI. No company or person can understand or adopt even a fraction of these options, so too many choices can be as damaging as not enough choices.
Q: In a broad sense, what are some of the societal benefits of your research?
A: Effective governance of quantum that controls real risks but does not impede beneficial innovation is a fine line in all of our interests.
Q: Can you describe the approaches you’re using in your research and why you’ve chosen them?
A: Historical analysis of previous governance approaches. We chose this approach because of the rich history built on technology governance.
Q: Are you collaborating with other researchers or institutions for this project? If so, how has this collaboration enhanced your research?
A: Yes, we collaborate with experts from different disciplines—law, regulation, ethics, and technology. We also collaborate with experts from other departments at ASU, other universities in the U.S., experts from private companies, and with experts from Australia.
