The Q-Shift: Decision-Making in the Age of Quantum AI

Current research maintains that quantum computing (QC) and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to significantly improve our ability to find answers to complex problems.

For example, due to the capability of QC to catalyze pattern classification and data categorization, these technologiespromise to fundamentally advance prediction of complex system dynamics. We call this development the Q-shift.

To explore how such a leap in computational power might affect society, this proposal intends tostudy Quantum AI from the following three perspectives.

First, the objective is to advance our understanding of the possible future trajectories the technology might take by analyzing the cultural andsocial forces it is shaped by. To do so, the analysis will address the narratives and identities with which the technology is entangled. Second, the investigation focuses on whether and how Quantum AI upsets traditional decision-making processes.

Here, we are specifically interested in how large systemsimulations might impinge on human agency, trust, and accountability between individuals and collectives and how QC will contribute to the entanglement of human and machine intelligence and a development towards a “hybrid mind”.

Third, the project aims to bring into focus socio-political aspects that might result from asymmetries in knowledge, access, and participation.

To achieve these goals, the project group will rely on a thorough discussion of philosophical and legal texts pertinent to the topic. In addition, the inquiry will be based on empirical data collected through content analysis and expert interviews.

The project team consists of specialists from management, communication sciences, law, philosophy, and neuropsychology and will allow for an interdisciplinary and expert implementation of this proposal.