Conference Agenda

No consensus exists on how quantum mechanics should be interpreted (e.g., Laloë, 2019), and many argue that the quantum world is notoriously difficult to understand (e.g., Feynman, 1985). Yet physicists and engineers in quantum technologies (such as quantum computing and quantum communication) are finding innovative ways to actively create, manipulate and exploit quantum behaviour for practical benefit. In this paper, I argue that in research and engineering practices in quantum technology today, there exists a contradiction between the explicit embrace of particular interpretations of quantum mechanics (i.e., textbook quantum mechanics) on the one hand and the realist assumptions made in visualisations in engineering sketches on the other. Addressing this contradiction aids in fostering a fruitful interaction between the philosophy of quantum mechanics and quantum technology.

Textbook quantum mechanics traditionally restricts its domain to predicting measurement outcomes, sidestepping ontological questions about the reality of quantum phenomena outside measurement outcomes. In the current boom of quantum technologies, textbook quantum mechanics is widely accepted as the standard in research and engineering practices (e.g., Nielsen & Chuang, 2010) – physicists and engineers often do not explicitly utilise other interpretations in achieving their practical goals (except for very particular cases where applied Bohmian mechanics can be used, Benseny et al., 2014). However, engineers and physicists working on quantum technology often use tools for visualising (term borrowed from de Regt, 2017) quantum phenomena outside of measurement outcomes (e.g., Kalinin & Gruverman, 2011). In this paper, I assess the ontological and instrumental status of such illustrations through an analysis of two commonly used tools for visualising the quantum world in research and engineering practices, namely, engineering sketches in scanning tunnelling microscopy and models of qubits in quantum computing. I draw on earlier work connecting engineering sketches and interpretations of quantum mechanics (Vermaas, 2004, 2005). I argue that in case realist assumptions are present in these visualisations, the approach in engineering practices to visualise quantum processes outside of measurement outcomes conflicts with the instrumentalist approach that is often explicitly embraced in research and engineering practices in quantum technology. Moreover, I lay out some implications for other quantum interpretations (specifically Bohmian mechanics and the many worlds interpretation) by reflecting on the engineering context through realist and pragmatist debates in the philosophy of science (e.g., Chang, 2022).

This paper follows up on developments in the philosophy of techno-science to develop an understanding of the role of technology in scientific (foundational) aims (Boon, 2006, 2011; Knuuttila & Boon, 2011; Russo, 2016, 2022). Assessing these cases in quantum technology in light of pragmatist and realist discussions in the interpretations of quantum mechanics helps explain the corresponding roles of these tools throughout different interpretations. The approach of this paper is an attempt to utilise development in quantum technology to aid our understanding of the quantum world.

References

Benseny, A., Albareda, G., Sanz, Á. S., Mompart, J., & Oriols, X. (2014). Applied Bohmian mechanics. The European Physical Journal D, 68(10), 286. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2014-50222-4

Boon, M. (2006). How Science Is Applied in Technology. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 20(1), 27-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/02698590600640992

Boon, M. (2011). In Defense of Engineering Sciences: On the Epistemological Relations Between Science and Technology. Techné, 15(1), 49-71.

Chang, H. (2022). Realism for Realistic People: A New Pragmatist Philosophy of Science. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/9781108635738

de Regt, H. W. (2017). Understanding Scientific Understanding. Oxford University Press.

Feynman, R. (1985). The Character of Physical Law. The MIT Press. (1965)

Kalinin, S. V., & Gruverman, A. (2011). Scanning probe microscopy of functional materials : nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7167-8.

Knuuttila, T., & Boon, M. (2011). How do models give us knowledge? The case of Carnot’s ideal heat engine. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 1(3), 309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-011-0029-3

Laloë, F. (2019). Do We Really Understand Quantum Mechanics? (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/9781108569361

Nielsen, M. A., & Chuang, I. L. (2010). Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: 10th Anniversary Edition. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511976667

Russo, F. (2016). On the Poietic Character of Technology. Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies, 9(30).

Russo, F. (2022). Techno-Scientific Practices : An Informational Approach. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/delft/detail.action?docID=7102521

Vermaas, P. E. (2004). Nanoscale technology: a two-sided challenge for interpretations of quantum mechanics. . In D. Baird, A. Nordmann, & J. Schummer (Eds.), Discovering the nanoscale (pp. 77-91). IOS Press.

Vermaas, P. E. (2005). Technology and the conditions on interpretations of quantum mechanics. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 56(4), 635-661.

Today, the scope and impact of information technology (IT) is expanding into many citizens' private lives, industry, and the public sector. While IT has greatly boosted the productivity and the convenience of companies/citizens, there are also many cases of unethical use, such as surveillance capitalism[1] and the spread of false information driven by the attention economy, and deceptive patterns[2] that deceive users. These depend at least in part on the architecture of platforms, products, and services. As Lessig wrote, architecture is one of the factors that constrain people's online behavior[3], and IT engineers who create it have great power. Architecture becomes even more important in emerging technologies that directly interact with humans, such as AI agents and cybernetic avatars. In addition, because IT is advancing rapidly, engineers who develop/operate products and services are in a position to prevent unethical use before laws and regulations are enacted. Engineers are expected to work with professional ethics so that the technology is less likely to be abused. Therefore, it is important to know what kind of ethics IT engineers have, but this is not clear. We therefore conducted a survey on professional ethics among IT engineers in Japan and North America (NA).

The survey was conducted online. A total of 162 Japanese IT engineers responded between January and February 2024. A total of 178 NA IT engineers responded in November 2024.

No significant difference was found between Japan and NA in terms of awareness of being a professional, but differences were found in the reasons for this. This shows the difference in the concept of "professional" between Japan and NA.

NA engineers generally met the professional characteristics described in the textbook[4] better, however, NA showed conflicting results, with a higher percentage of respondents believing that general ethics are sufficient to deal with ethical issues in their work, and a higher percentage of respondents believing that engineers should not consider tech ethics[5].

The following suggestions for engineering education can be made;

First, in addition to providing technical education, IT companies should provide guidance on the education and practice of engineering ethics for IT professionals based on the company's core values, because the percentage of engineers working in Japanese IT companies who took courses in engineering ethics as students is not necessarily high.

Compared to Japan, a higher percentage of NA IT engineers took engineering ethics courses as students, and they are familiar with the subject. However, there were also many responses that did not recognize it as important, so active IT engineers will need ethics education that links it to their own work.

At the time of abstract submission, the presenter has the survey data from Japan and NA on hand, but the results of the survey of European IT engineers will also be included at the time of presentation.

This work was supported by JST Moonshot R&D Grant Number JPMJMS2011.

[1] S. Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. Profile Books Ltd, 2019.

[2] H. Bringnull, M. Leiser, C. Santos, and K. Doshi, ‘Deceptive patterns – user interfaces designed to trick you. deceptive.design.’, Deceptive Patterns. Accessed: Jan. 02, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.deceptive.design/

[3] L. Lessig, Code and other laws of cyberspace. Basic Books, 1999. [Online]. Available: https://lessig.org/images/resources/1999-Code.pdf

[4] D. G. Johnson, Computer Ethics, 3rd edition. Pearson Education, 2000.

[5] M. Andreessen, ‘The Techno-Optimist Manifesto’, Andreessen Horowitz. Accessed: Oct. 18, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/

As Sugimoto et. al (2021) have shown, people who use mobile navigation apps rather than paper maps to navigate unfamiliar spaces are less effective at retracing their route unaided. We argue that this is because of the form of instructions given by most mobile navigation apps. Turn based instructions, we assert, express unfounded assumptions about the nature of space and human cognition that are built into the design of ordinary mobile navigation apps. This results in a disorienting or displacing experience that hampers procedural memory, sense of agency, and sense of immersion.

We have designed an alternative model for mobile navigation apps based on the enactivist theory of cognition. On the enactivist account, cognition is not a process of calculation and symbolic representation – that is, it is not accomplished by something like a computer or a brain. Rather, cognition occurs in the ongoing engagement of an organism with its environment. Our enactive navigation app – EXPER - aims to extend a user’s senses such that she could become sensitive to new aspects of the environment which are ordinarily imperceptible. We aim to extend the mind by enriching the user’s environment - empowering her as an active navigator with extended powers of perception - rather than extending the mind by representing space and subsequently delivering information relevant to planning action within that space. We aim to demonstrate how front-loading philosophical theory in software design and result in a less alienating relationship to technology and the way that it mediates our lived environments.

In this presentation we will share preliminary results from experiments run in Texas and North Dakota testing for differences in procedural memory, sense of immersion in the environment and sense of agency when using EXPER vs. a traditional turn-based navigation app.