Quantum physicists rebel against the militarization of their discipline. In a new manifesto consulted by the French newspaper The Worldand named as these professionals meet to “reject the uses of their research for military applications or the control and surveillance of the population.” According to the media, more than 300 professionals have signed the document.
This report joins the latest steps of scientific professionals who denounce the use of artificial intelligence technologies for military purposes. And OpenAI, Caitlin Kalinowski She resigned on March 7 from her position as head of the robotics department. She refused to support an agreement between her company and the White House Department of Defense.
Similarly, the head of Anthropic, Dario Amodeiopposed, in a statement on February 26, a request from the US administration, which sought to lift restrictions on the use of
The militarization of quantum physics
“In recent years, we have seen that governments want to introduce military funding into public research,” he explains. Marco Cattaneoin conversation with the French newspaper. Lately, he says, “we see scientific conferences dedicated to the defensive applications of new quantum technologies.” As a result: “More and more colleagues are talking about military applications for their work.” Some of the advances that quantum physics could bring to military systems:
- Creation of cold atom navigation systems, that could be used in case of interference in current systems of
- The famous ones, who could perform impossible calculations to help break encryption systems used in communications or even develop new toxic molecules.
King Yehiahco-author of the document signed by the hundred experts, insists that the idea is to “open a debate, make sure that people know what they are developing.” “We try to wake up researchers a little, who are usually in their tunnel, without thinking too much about the applications behind it,” explains the doctorate in Barcelona. In this way, the manifesto aims to denounce the “elephant in the room, which no one wants to see: the rise of the militarization of a research field,” he concludes.
As the publication states, the manifesto, which recalls the current context of increasing arms budgets, is marked by pacifist and even anti-militarist convictions: it states that “peace must be guaranteed through diplomacy, international treaties and cooperation rather than mutual destruction. In the coming days, some researchers at the initiative of the movement will launch a website, with the aim of creating the greatest possible space for discussion and exchange.
