From a December 1, 2025 article by Matt Swayne for the Quantum Insider, Note: Links have been removed,
Insider Brief
DARPA has advanced 11 companies to Stage B of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, moving the program from conceptual proposals to technical validation of utility-scale quantum computing architectures.
Stage B will evaluate each company’s R&D plans, risk-mitigation strategies, and prototype roadmaps to determine whether their approaches are realistic and scalable.
The initiative aims to assess whether an industrially useful quantum computer—one whose computational value exceeds its cost—can be developed by 2033.
What Does Stage B Mean for DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative?
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has moved its flagship quantum computing effort, the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), into its next phase — or Stage B — a shift from conceptual review toward rigorous technical validation of utility-scale quantum architectures. A total of 11 companies have moved into Stage B, according to the DARPA project web page.
Under the initiative’s three-stage scheme, participants must first present a plausible architecture (Stage A), then a detailed R&D plan (Stage B), and finally undergo independent verification of hardware (Stage C).
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Which Companies Are Advancing to Stage B and What Qubit Technologies Do They Use?
DARPA reports the following companies (with their qubit technology approach) have been selected for Stage B at this time:
Company
Location
Qubit Approach
Atom Computing
Boulder Colorado
Neutral atom arrays
Diraq
Sydney and US locations
Silicon CMOS spin qubits
IBM
Yorktown Heights New York
Modular superconducting processors
IonQ
College Park Maryland
Trapped ions
Nord Quantique
Sherbrooke Canada
Superconducting qubits with bosonic correction
Photonic Inc.
Vancouver Canada
Optically linked silicon spin qubits
Quantinuum
Broomfield Colorado
Trapped ion QCCD architecture
Quantum Motion
London UK
MOS silicon spin qubits
QuEra Computing
Boston Massachusetts
Neutral atom arrays
Silicon Quantum Computing
Sydney Australia
Precision atom qubits in silicon
Xanadu
Toronto Canada
Photonic quantum computing
The list may grow, according to DARPA, adding that It is likely but not guaranteed that additional teams will enter Stage B in the future. DARPA plans to announce any additional promotion decisions once they contracted with those teams.
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Can a Useful Quantum Computer Be Developed by 2033?
By selecting multiple firms for Stage B, DARPA signals that it believes certain concepts presented in Stage A met the threshold of plausibility. The initiative’s ultimate goal is to assess whether an industrially-useful quantum computer can be developed by 2033 — defined as a system whose computational value outweighs its cost.
The move from conceptual review to rigorous validation suggests DARPA is narrowing focus from “could this work” to “can this be built.”
…
What Will DARPA Evaluate During Stage B and How Will Firms Advance?
During Stage B (estimated to last about one year), DARPA will assess each performer’s R&D plan, prototype roadmap, risk-mitigation strategy and manufacturing pathway. After satisfactory review, select firms will proceed to Stage C, where independent verification and validation teams will test actual hardware against benchmarks.
The Daily Hive (May 7, 2026 article by Amir Ali) is trumpeting the appearance of Vancouver’s current (Ken Sim) and a previous (Gregor Robertson) mayors at the second Web Summit Vancouver meeting (formerly known as Collisions when held previously in Toronto) here in the city, Note: Links have been removed,
The biggest tech event of the year kicks off next week [May 11 – 14, 2026], and the current and a former Vancouver mayor will be helping to kick off the festivities.
Web Summit 2026 begins this coming Monday [May 11, 2026], and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and former mayor Gregor Robertson, who’s the current Canadian housing minister [and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada], will be sharing a stage to kick off the festivities.
It’s probably the biggest event of the year that isn’t named FIFA World Cup, and it takes place between May 11 and May 14 [2026].
Last year, Web Summit came to Vancouver for the first time, and it brought over 100 of the world’s top leaders in tech to the city.
The 2025 event saw over 15,000 people attend, and this year’s event could draw over 20,000, along with over 1,500 startups, 700 investors, 350 speakers, and delegates from over 120 countries, according to Innovate BC.. [emphases mine]
Opening remarks take place on Monday, May 11, [2026] at 6 pm, and along with Sim and Robertson will be Web Summit CEO and Founder Paddy Cosgrave, and B.C.’s minister of finance, Brenda Bailey.
Other notable speakers who’ll be speaking at the event include Evan Solomon [emphasis mine], Canada’s Minister of AI and Digital Innovation. B.C. Premier David Eby [emphasis mine] will also be speaking on a panel about growing the province’s tech sector.
Beloved physician Gabor Maté [emphasis mine] is also going to be in attendance as a speaker.
Some of the biggest brands and organizations that will be represented include Sony Imageworks, Walt Disney Animation Studios, CNN Business, Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, Aston Martin, and Microsoft.
Last year’s Vancouver event marked the first time a North American city hosted Web Summit.
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While Web Summit is a massive tech event, it won’t draw in as many people as the huge Alcoholics Anonymous Convention that took place last year.
I have a couple of questions First, how much money did we make from last year’s event? I have some data from my May 23, 2025 posting about the estimated financial benefits from the then upcoming (May 27 – 30, 2025) event,
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Destination Vancouver estimates Web Summit Vancouver will produce substantial local economic spinoffs, with nearly $57 million in direct spending and over $93 million in overall economic impact for British Columbia in its first year [emphasis mine].
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Surely by now, they have a rough estimate, if not final numbers. Also, were there extra costs incurred. If so, what were they? Given that our current mayor, Ken Sim, is an accountant, it’s puzzling that he only ever talks about projected benefits (e.g. Web Summit; it’s too early to tell about the upcoming FIFA World Cup matches). If you are curious about how how the Web Summit Vancouver sausage was made, there’s my May 23, 2025 posting, which provides a little information if not all of the story.
Summary Why attend Web Summit Vancouver 2026 in British Columbia? Web Summit Vancouver 2026 showcases B.C. as a global tech hub.
Web Summit Vancouver returns May 11–14, 2026, connecting global investors and innovators with British Columbia’s fast-growing tech ecosystem
15,000+ attendees from 117 countries in 2025 showcased B.C.’s strength in innovation, investment and global partnerships
British Columbia offers global scale and market access, with 12,000+ tech companies, top talent and strong links to North American and Asia-Pacific markets
Web Summit Vancouver returns May 11–14, 2026, bringing global investors and innovators to British Columbia to connect with investment-ready companies and explore partnership and market entry opportunities in one of North America’s fastest-growing tech ecosystems.
The B.C. Pavilion at the Vancouver Convention Centre will once again serve as a central hub on the show floor, with half day programming blocks dedicated to priority sectors. This structure supports curated connections between global attendees and B.C.’s investment-ready companies and partners across clean tech, AI and quantum, life sciences, creative tech, agritech and marine tech.
As one of the world’s largest and most influential technology gatherings, Web Summit offers international companies, investors and industry leaders direct access to B.C.’s innovation ecosystem and high-growth sectors to explore partnerships, investment pathways and emerging technologies shaping the future economy.
Web Summit Vancouver 2026 Builds on Strong Global Engagement In 2025
The inaugural Web Summit Vancouver in 2025 attracted over 15,000 attendees from 117 countries, generating international visibility for B.C.’s technology sector and innovation ecosystem.
B.C. companies connected with global investors, media and partners through targeted meetings, pitch sessions and on-site programming, supporting new business relationships and export opportunities. These structured engagements helped generate tangible deal flow and accelerate international partnerships.
The event also demonstrated how global gatherings can accelerate market access by bringing decision-makers directly into the province’s ecosystem.
Investment Programming alongside Web Summit Vancouver 2026
With strong momentum from 2025, Web Summit Vancouver 2026 and a coordinated program of host-led events is expected to further expand Vancouver’s global reach and impact.
Beyond the main conference, host-led programming will connect international delegates with investment-ready companies and targeted business opportunities across British Columbia. Delegates can access structured opportunities, including investor showcases, pre-matched B2B meetings, pitch sessions and sector-specific networking events designed to support deal flow, market entry and the establishment of international companies in British Columbia.
As a central hub, the return of the B.C. Pavilion will provide a dedicated space to explore the province’s innovation ecosystem, support meetings, informal networking and direct engagement with companies and partners actively seeking investment and collaboration.
For international attendees, the event offers a direct pathway to:
Meet investment-ready B.C. companies through curated and pre-qualified engagements
Participate in pre-matched meetings with investors and buyers
Gain insight into emerging global technology trends
Connect with a collaborative and fast-growing innovation ecosystem
British Columbia Tech Ecosystem Offers Global Scale and Investment Potential
British Columbia is home to one of North America’s fastest-growing technology ecosystems, with more than 12,000 companies employing over 180,000 people across the sector. This depth of talent and industry makes B.C. a strong pipeline of investment-ready companies for global partners.
For international investors and companies, B.C. offers a combination of talent, infrastructure and global connectivity that supports long-term growth.
Key advantages include:
A highly skilled and diverse workforce, supported by nearly 15,000 tech-related graduates each year
Strong research and commercialization capacity, with globally recognized universities and innovation hubs
Competitive business costs and a stable operating environment
Strategic access to North American, Asian and European markets through integrated trade and transportation networks
Vancouver’s tech ecosystem ranks among the top in Canada and is recognized globally for its talent concentration and cost competitiveness, making it an attractive destination for scaling companies.
Global companies including Amazon, Microsoft, SAP and Salesforce have established a strong presence in the province , alongside a growing number of high-value startups and scaleups.
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The focus is clearly business. So, my second question is ‘What is Gabor Maté doing at the ‘techie’ 2026 Web Summit?’ For anyone unfamiliar with Maté, here’s more from his Wikipedia entry, Note: Links have been removed,
Gabor Maté CM (/ˈɡɑːbɔːr ˈmɑːteɪ/ GAH-bor MAH-tay;[1] born January 1944) is a Canadian physician and author. He has worked in family practices and specializes in childhood development and trauma,[2] including long-term effects on physical and mental health, such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),[3] and addiction. [emphases mine]
Maté’s approach to addiction emphasizes the role of trauma i [emphasis mine] n the development of substance use disorders, aiming to address underlying emotional pain as part of recovery.[4] He has written five books exploring topics such as ADHD, stress, developmental psychology, and addiction. Some commentators have raised concerns about the scope and evidentiary basis of his claims.[5][6][7]
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Interesting choice, non?
Now for some details, the pricing for the cheapest four-day ticket ‘General attendee’ is $830 CAD (including tax), the same price as last year’s as per my May 23, 2025 posting. A ‘Chairperson’ ticked will cost you $40,000 CAD (including tax). It makes the $1990 CAD (Including tax) price for the ‘Executive’ ticket almost look reasonable. As you might expect, the prices reflect the degree of access you will receive to special events and speakers
Here’s a sampling of the speakers at this year’s event and Maté is not the only unusual choice,
Michelle Grady, President,Sony Imageworks
Gary Marcus, AI Expert, Scientist & Author
Naomi Klein, Activist and writer
Matt Lyteson, CIO, IBM
Stephen Walt, Professor, International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Rick Glumac, Minister for AI and New Technologies of British Columbia, Government of BC
Apl.de.ap, Rapper, Black Eyed Peas
etc.
I’m particularly taken with Apl.de.ap whose profile page revealed this,
Grammy winner Apl.de.Ap is transforming the Philippines via the world’s largest reforestation project. Planting 380M+ trees, he’s blending agroforestry with carbon credits to fight climate change and empower rural communities. Music was just the start.
ETA May 22, 2026: I’ve commented on some unexpected choices for speakers; it seems it was even odder than I knew. In “Far-Right Speakers Given a Perch at Vancouver’s Web Summit,” Jen St. Denis reveals some disquieting news in her May 18, 2026 article for The Tyee, Note: Links have been removed,
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Gil Durán, a journalist who has documented and warned about Yarvin’s [Curtis Yarvin, a commentator who has argued for U.S. democracy to be replaced with a corporate surveillance state] appeal to tech elites in the United States, told The Tyee he was invited to debate Yarvin at the conference — but declined. Durán said organizers then asked him to appear in a different format, but the participation of Yarvin “left a bad taste and I lost interest.”
“I’m in the middle of finishing a book about tech fascism, and Yarvin turned down multiple interview requests. Why would I fly to British Columbia to frolic with him in a circus?” said Durán.
“I was then told that Yarvin’s appearance wouldn’t be advertised. That sealed my decision to stay away. If you’re too ashamed to publicize your guest, why invite him?”
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Regarding far-right speakers being invited to speak at the conference, Farrell [Katherine Farrell, vice-president of communications for the conference] told The Tyee the conference organizers believe “in having the courage to hear from everyone impacting the future of tech — those building technology, those deploying it, and those influencing how it is used. The tech world cannot and should not hide from examining every corner of the tech debate.”
Durán said extreme ideas like fascism, eugenics and racism are being “cleverly marketed through ‘debate’ and ‘just asking questions’ journalism,” and he questioned whether Yarvin was truly challenged on his authoritarian ideas at the conference.
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This is not a good look for the Summit, for the politicians, or for the attendees.
A September 9, 2025 Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) notice (received via email) announces a quantum conference and call for posters,
Join leading quantum researchers at the Year of Quantum Across Canada Conference that will highlight advances in quantum information theory and applications. The conference is co-hosted by the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) and Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics from October 6 to 9, 2025.
Learn about and share the latest advances in quantum information theory and applications.
Find opportunities to collaborate with local, Canadian and international quantum researchers.
Celebrate 100 years since the initial development of quantum mechanics this International Year of Quantum.
IQC and Perimeter Institute invite all scientists who are interested in:
Quantum metrology
Quantum simulation and quantum advantage
Quantum error-correction and fault tolerance
Quantum complexity and algorithms
Quantum communication and networks
Quantum cryptography
Quantum information in quantum matter and quantum gravity
The Year of Quantum Across Canada Symposium will be hosting a poster session on Tuesday, Oct 7th [2025] at IQC. Poster submissions are welcome and will be reviewed by the program committee. Some posters may be selected to present as a contributed talk. If you are interested in your poster being considered for a talk, please indicate this on the submission form.
NOTE: You must be in attendance at the Symposium in Waterloo to present a poster and/or contributed talk. We encourage you to register for the Symposium as soon as possible as space is limited. You will be advised if your poster has been accepted before the registration fee payment deadline.
If you have questions about the Call for Abstracts with respect to your research, please contact Alex May (amay@perimeterinstitute.ca).
Any logistical questions about the application process, the website or decision timelines should be directed to conferences@perimeterinstitute.ca
Then, there’s this from the Year of Quantum Across Canada’s Speaker List webpage, Note: Two confirmed speakers from Canada to “celebrate and aim to strengthen the quantum information science community in Canada and beyond, by bringing together leading Canadian researchers as well as members of the broader quantum community” as per the conference homepage. Maybe they’ll get a few more before October 2025?,
Speaker List
Confirmed Speakers:
Christian Bauer (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Alexandre Blais (Université de Sherbrooke) Sergey Bravyi (IBM Research – Thomas J. Watson Research Center) Nikolas Breuckmann (University of Bristol) Soonwon Choi (MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]) Zohreh Davoudi (University of Maryland) Matthew Fisher (University of California, Santa Barbara) Dakshita Khurana (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) Aleksander Kubica (Yale University) Hank Lamm (Fermilab) Laura Mancinska (University of Copenhagen) Antonio Mezzacapo (IBM) John Preskill (Caltech) Martin Savage (University of Washington) Brian Swingle (Brandeis University) Nathan Wiebe (University of Toronto) Yu-Xiang Yang (The University of Hong Kong)
Moving on, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) took a slightly more celebratory approach to their launch of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology 2025 (IYQ 2025) in February 2025 (see my January 31, 2025 posting).
Canada’s quantum community, i.e., three companies, are currently ‘competing’ for US science funding. It seems like an odd choice given all of the news about science funding cuts and funding freezes along with the Trump administration’s chaotic and, increasingly, untrustworthy government management.
On April 3, 2025 the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced that approximately 20 companies were embarked on what they describe as Stage A of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) ‘challenge’,
Nearly 20 quantum computing companies have been chosen to enter the initial stage of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), in which they will characterize their unique concepts for creating a useful, fault-tolerant quantum computer within a decade.
QBI, which kicked off in July 2024, aims to determine whether it’s possible to build such a computer much faster than conventional predictions. Specifically, QBI is designed to rigorously verify and validate whether any quantum computing approach can achieve utility-scale operation — meaning its computational value exceeds its cost — by the year 2033.
“We selected these companies for Stage A following a review of their written abstracts and daylong oral presentations before a team of U.S. quantum experts to determine whether their proposed concepts might be able to reach industrial utility,” said Joe Altepeter, DARPA QBI program manager. “For the chosen companies, now the real work begins. Stage A is a six-month sprint in which they’ll provide comprehensive technical details of their concepts to show that they hold water and could plausibly lead to a transformative, fault-tolerant quantum computer in under 10 years.”
The following companies* are pursuing a variety of technologies for creating quantum bits (qubits) — the building block for quantum computers — including superconducting qubits, trapped ion qubits, neutral atom qubits, photonic qubits, semiconductor spin qubits, and other novel approaches listed below:
Alice & Bob — Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Paris, France (superconducting cat qubits)
Companies that successfully complete Stage A will move to a yearlong Stage B, during which DARPA will rigorously examine their research and development approach, followed by a final Stage C where the QBI independent verification and validation (IV&V) team will test the companies’ computer hardware.
“During Stage B we’ll thoroughly review all aspects of their R&D plans to see if they can go the distance — not just meet next year’s milestones — and stand the test of trying to build a transformative technology on this kind of a timeline,” Altepeter explained. “Those who make it through Stages A and B will enter the final portion of the program, Stage C, where a full-size IV&V team will conduct real-time, rigorous evaluation of the components, subsystems, and algorithms – everything that goes into building a fault-tolerant quantum computer for real. And we’ll do all these evaluations without slowing the companies down.”
QBI is not a competition between companies [emphasis mine]; rather, it aims to scan the landscape of commercial quantum computing efforts to spot every company on a plausible path to a useful quantum computer.
DARPA recently announced that Microsoft and PsiQuantum are entering the third and final phase of the Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) program, a pilot effort that was expanded to become QBI. Both companies were participating in the second phase of US2QC when the QBI expansion was announced. The final Phase of US2QC has the same technical goals as Stage C of QBI – verification and validation of an industrially useful quantum computer.
“We’ve built and are expanding our world-class IV&V team of U.S. quantum experts, leveraging federal and state test facilities to separate hype from reality in quantum computing,” Altepeter said. “Our team is eager to scrutinize the commercial concepts, designs, R&D plans, and prototype hardware — all with the goal of helping the U.S. government identify and support efforts that are genuinely advancing toward transformative, fault-tolerant quantum computing.”
*16 of the 18 companies are being announced; two are still in negotiations. DARPA will update this announcement once their agreements are signed.
Editor’s Note: This update was edited on April 29, 2025 to add QuEra Computing to the list of companies selected for Stage A.
This sounds like DARPA will pick and choose which bits of technology it may want to develop. Also, who owns the technology? An April 5, 2025 article by Sean Silcoff and Ivan Semeniuk for the Globe and Mail raises the question and answers it (more or less), Note: I have the paper version of the article,
Three Canadian quantum computer companies are in the running for up to US$316-million apiece in funding from the US government if they can prove within eight years that their machines will work at scale.
The companies – Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc. of Toronto , Vancouver-based Photonics Inc. and Nord Quantique from Sherbrooke, Que. – are among 18 groups from Canada, the US, Britain, and Australia that have qualified for the first stage (Stage A) of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI).
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“QBI is not meant to choose a winner and fund your research and development plan, [emphasis mine]” said Dr. Joe Altpeter, the QBI’s program manager. Rather, the program is structured to reward only those that can quickly execute against their roadmaps and deliver something useful.
However, making it through will likely anoint a winner or winners in the global race to develop a working quantum computer. [emphasis mine]
“I can’t think of any other program that has generated this much excitement and interest from startups and big companies – and a lot of investors know about it,” said Christian Weedbrook, Xanadu’s founder and chief executive officer [CEO].
Quantum computer developers have collectively raised and spend billions of dollars so far, and QBI will likely influence financiers in determining who to continue backing.
Conversely, “groups that don’t get in will be challenged to raise venture capital,” said Ray [Raymond] Laflamme, co-chair of the federal Quantum Advisory Council. The council has recommended the Canadian government provide matching funds [emphasis mine] to any domestic company that makes it through QBI.
Council co-chair Stephanie Simmons, who is also the founder and chief quantum officer [CQO] of Photonic, said the US government will gain access to “deep knowledge that other governments won’t have” [emphasis mine] through QBI.
“That will give them geopolitical and other advantages [emphasis mine] that are important in the upcoming economy.” Creating a matching program here would mean “This information would also be owned by the Canadian government.”
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“I would love to be proved surprised if companies make it through the gauntlet, you’re really will to advocate for them inside the US government in rooms that they can’t go to and say, ‘Look, we did our best to show this doesn’t work, these guys made it, they can really build this thing,'” he [Dr. Joe Altpeter] said adding that the program was designed to a “simple, cheap way” to determine that.
Mr. Laflamme agreed that QBI “is a very smart way for the US to keep at the front. By tis, the US will who has the lead in the world and people are, everywhere.” [p. B11 paper version]
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Clearly, the US has much to gain from this ‘non-competition’. It’s not clear to me what Canada will gain.
One quick note. D-Wave Systems is mentioned in Silcoff’s and Semeniuk’s April 5, 2025 article and described as a Canadian company. That is questionable. It was headquartered in the Vancouver area, British Columbia, Canada for a number of years but is now, according to its Wikipedia entry, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, US (see the sidebar). The company retains laboratories and offices in British Columbia.
It would seem that Silcoff’s and Semeniuk’s April 5, 2025 article hosted one of M. Laflamme’s last interviews.
RIP Raymond Laflamme, July 19, 1960 – June 19, 2025
I’ve had to interview more than one ‘horse’s behind’ (two members of the forestry faculty at the University of British Columbia spring to mind); M. Laflamme was most assuredly not one of them. It was a privilege to interview him for a May 11, 2015 posting about Research2Reality, a Canadian social media engagement project (scroll down to the subhead with his name),
Who convinces a genius that he’s gotten an important cosmological concept wrong or ignored it? Alongside Don Page, Laflamme accomplished that feat as one of Stephen Hawking’s PhD students at the University of Cambridge. Today (May 11, 2015), Laflamme is (from his Wikipedia entry)
… co-founder and current director of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo. He is also a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and an associate faculty member at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Laflamme is currently a Canada Research Chair in Quantum Information.
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The Council of Canadian Academies’ (CCA) July 22, 2025 The Advance newsletter (received via email) held this notice, Note: A link has been removed,
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And Ray Laflamme, the theoretical physicist and Canada Research Chair in Quantum Information, died on June 19 [2025] following a lengthy battle with cancer. Laflamme, founding director of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, served as chair of our Expert Panel on the Responsible Adoption of Quantum Technologies. …
I have a commentary on the CCA report issued by Laflamme and his expert panel. The report was published in November 2023 and my commentary published in two parts about 15 months later,
To wildly paraphrase John Donne (For Whom the Bell Tolls), M. Laflamme’s death diminishes us but more importantly his life enhanced us all in ways both small and large. Thank you.
And the quantum goes on
Members of the Canadian quantum community that M. Laflamme helped build have recently announced a breakthrough. From a July 10, 2025 TRIUMF news release (also on Quantum Wire), Note: A link has been removed,
A cross-Canada team of researchers have brought quantum and generative AI together to prepare for the Large Hadron Collider’s next upgrade.
In the world of collider physics, simulations play a key role in analyzing data from particle accelerators. Now, a cross-Canada effort is combining quantum with generative AI to create novel simulation models for the next big upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – the world’s largest particle accelerator [located at the European particle physics laboratory CERN, in Switzerland].
In a paper published in npj Quantum Information, a team that includes researchers from TRIUMF, Perimeter Institute, and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) are the first to use annealing quantum computing and deep generative AI to create simulations that are fast, accurate, and computationally efficient. If the models continue to improve, they could represent a new way to create synthetic data to help with analysis in particle collisions
Why simulations are essential for collider physics
Simulations broadly assist collider physics researchers in two ways. First, researchers use them to statistically match observed data to theoretical models. Second, scientists use simulated data to help optimize the design of the data analysis, for instance by isolating the signal they are studying from irrelevant background events.
“To do the data analysis at the LHC, you need to create copious amounts of simulations of collision events,” explains Wojciech Fedorko, one of the principal investigators on the paper and Deputy Department Head, Scientific Computing at TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre in Vancouver. “Basically, you take your hypothesis, and you simulate it under multiple scenarios. One of those scenarios will statistically best match the real data that has been produced in the real experiment.”
Currently, the LHC is preparing for a major shutdown in anticipation of its high luminosity upgrade. When it comes back online, it will require more complex simulations that are reliably accurate, fast to produce, and computationally efficient. Those requirements have the potential to create a bottleneck, as the computational power required to create these simulations will no longer be feasible.
“Simulations are projected to cost millions of CPU years annually when the high luminosity LHC turns on,” says Javier Toledo-Marín, a researcher scientist jointly appointed at Perimeter Institute and TRIUMF. “It’s financially and environmentally unsustainable to keep doing business as usual.”
When quantum and generative AI collide
Particle physicists use specialized detectors called calorimeters to measure the energy released by the showers of particles that result from collisions. Scientists combine the readings from these and other detectors to piece together what happened at the initial collision. It’s through this process of comparing simulations to experimental data that researchers discovered the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012. Compared to the other sub-detector systems within the LHC experiments, calorimeters and the data they produce are the most computationally intensive to simulate, and as such they represent a major opportunity for efficiency gains.
In 2022, a scientific “challenge” was issued by researchers seeking to spur rapid advances in calorimeter computations, in an attempt to address the coming computational bottleneck at the LHC. Named the “CaloChallenge,” the challenge provided datasets based on LHC experiments for teams to develop and benchmark simulations of calorimeter readings. Fedorko and the team are the only ones so far to take a full-scale quantum approach, thanks to an assist from D-Wave Quantum Inc.’s annealing quantum computing technology.
Annealing quantum computing is a process that is usually used to find the lowest-energy state for a system or a state near to the lowest energy one, which is useful for problems involving optimization.
After discussing with D-Wave, Fedorko, Toledo-Marín, and the rest of the team determined that D-Wave’s annealing quantum computers could be used for simulation generation. You just need to use annealing to manipulate qubits (the smallest bits of quantum information) in an unconventional way.
“In the D-Wave quantum processor, there is a mechanism that ensures the ratio between the ‘bias’ on a given qubit and the ‘weight’ linking it to another qubit is the same throughout the annealing process. With the help of D-Wave, the team realized that they could use this mechanism to instead guarantee outcomes for a subset of the qubits on a device. “We basically hijacked that mechanism to fix in place some of the spins,” says Fedorko. “This mechanism can be used to ‘condition’ the processor – for example, generate showers with specific desired properties – like the energy of a particle impinging on the calorimeter.”
The end result: an unconventional way to use annealing quantum computing to generate high-quality synthetic data for analyzing particle collisions.
The next phase of collider physics simulations
The published result is important because of its performance in three metrics: the speed to generate the simulations, their accuracy, and how much computational resources they require. “For speed, we are in the top bound of results published by other teams and our accuracy is above average,” Toledo-Marín says. “What makes our framework competitive is really the unique combination of several factors – speed, accuracy, and energy consumption.”
Essentially, many types of quantum processing units (QPU) must be kept at an extremely low temperature. But giving it multiple tasks doesn’t significantly impact its energy requirements. A standard graphics processing unit (GPU), by contrast, will increase its energy use for each job it receives. As advanced GPUs become more and more power-hungry, QPUs by contrast can potentially scale up without leading to increasing computational energy requirements.
Looking forward, the team is excited to test their models on new incoming data so they can finetune their models, increasing both speed and accuracy. If all goes well, annealing quantum computing could become an essential aspect of generating simulations.
“It’s a good example of being able to scale something in the field of quantum machine learning to something practical that can potentially be deployed,” says Toledo-Marín.
The authors are grateful for the support of their many funders and contributors, which include the University of British Columbia, the University of Virginia, the NRC, D-Wave, and MITACS [originally funded as: Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems; now a nonprofit research organization].
In a landmark achievement for Canadian science, a team of scientists led by TRIUMF and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics have unveiled transformative research that – for the first time – merges quantum computing techniques with advanced AI to model complex simulations in a fast, accurate and energy-efficient way.
“This is a uniquely Canadian success story,” said Wojciech Fedorko, Deputy Department Head, Scientific Computing at TRIUMF. “Uniting the expertise from our country’s research institutions and industry leaders has not only advanced our ability to carry out fundamental research, but also demonstrated Canada’s ability to lead the world in quantum and AI innovation.”
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In any event, here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Conditioned quantum-assisted deep generative surrogate for particle-calorimeter interactions by J. Quetzalcóatl Toledo-Marín, Sebastian Gonzalez, Hao Jia, Ian Lu, Deniz Sogutlu, Abhishek Abhishek, Colin Gay, Eric Paquet, Roger G. Melko, Geoffrey C. Fox, Maximilian Swiatlowski & Wojciech Fedorko. npj Quantum Information volume 11, Article number: 114 (2025) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-025-01040-x Published: 07 July 2025
This paper is open access.
Raymond Julien Joseph Laflamme (July 19, 1960 – June 19, 2025))
I last wrote about Canada’s Phoenix pay system in an August 20, 2024 posting “From the Phoenix payroll system to Dayforce? Hopefully an improvement for Canadian government employees—one day” when a new pay system was being discussed,
A payroll system for federal workers intended to replace the much-maligned Phoenix platform is still years away from being fully implemented, according to a senior government official.
…
At a new conference on Tuesday [July 9, 2024], Alex Benay, associate deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement, said testing began on Phoenix’s replacement, Dayforce, in 2022.
“This is the year that we are building Dayforce as a replacement system for HR and pay and determining if it is a feasible solution for the Government of Canada,” Benay said.
Benay said the switch won’t happen overnight, however, and cautioned it may take years until the new system is fully implemented. In the meantime, Phoenix will remain in use.
…
Brief background information
I have covered the debacle that is the implementation of the Canadian federal government’s disastrous implementation of the Phoenix pay system in early 2016 (see my December 27, 2019 post for a comprehensive overview). In 2019, there was a then new Minister of Digital Government, Joyce Murray. That position was eliminated in 2021 and Murray became the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard leaving no one at the cabinet level in charge of ‘digital government’. Four years later, with the advent of Mark Carney as the Prime Minister of Canada, as of June 2025, there is now a Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon.
Early 2025
Early this year (2025) before the new government was elected, there were news reports suggesting that the Phoenix pay system situation had not improved much, from a January 24, 2025 article “Ottawa to tap AI to assist with Phoenix pay system backlog” by Adam Huras in the Vancouver Sun. p. NP6,
The federal government says it’s slowly inching closer to a permanent replacement of the controversial [emphasis mine] Phoenix pay system, with officials to decide by the end of March [2025] whether a new payroll platform can be implemented next year [2026] [emphasis mine].
But it will be another 18 months of configuration and testing to fully launch the change.
And the new system will likely also run in parallel with the existing one [emphasis mine] for another four to six months after that to ensure thing work they way they should.
That’s as massive backlogs persist.
…
An online dashboard last updated in December [2024] by the federal government shows a backlog of 388,00 transaction. That’s down from 416,000 last June [2024].
More than half 201,000 are more than a year old.
To help the federal government is expanding its use of artificial intelligence [AI] [emphasis mine], specifically a virtual assistant tool that helps fix data discrepancies in pay and compensation services.
That tool has bee in testing. With the help of 30 compensation advisers. …
Controversy? There is none. Even the contractor, IBM, advised against the implementation as the Phoenix pay system wasn’t tested in the field. Plus, there was no backup system in place. On a happier note, it seems that it’s being done differently this time.
There is more to the Phoenix pay system failure as Jamey Mills (regional executive vice-president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, BC Region. PSAC) notes in her February 27, 2025 article for vancouverisawesome.com,
Trust is the foundation of any workplace. Workers commit to doing their jobs, and in return, they expect to be treated with respect and paid fairly. But for the past nine years, the federal government has broken that trust with its own workers.
Nine years ago, the federal government launched the Phoenix pay system, promising efficiency and accuracy. Instead, it delivered chaos. From the very start, workers reported missing paycheques, incorrect salaries, and severe financial hardship.
Nearly a decade later, the crisis remains unresolved, with more than 383,000 pay issues still in the backlog. The workers affected by Phoenix are not just numbers in a system—they are people with mortgages, bills, and families to support.
…
No one should have to worry about whether their next paycheque will arrive on time or in the right amount. But Phoenix is just one example of a broader issue: a pattern of neglect when it comes to supporting federal public service workers. Chronic understaffing, outsourcing, and budget cuts [emphasis mine] have put incredible strain on these workers, forcing them to do more with less while dealing with the ongoing stress of an unreliable payroll system. These are the same workers who process our passports, protect our borders, support veterans, inspect our food and transportation, and keep government programs running. They are the backbone of the public services we all depend on.
…
This isn’t just about solving the issues with this broken pay system. It’s about rebuilding trust in the federal government as an employer and ensuring that public service workers are valued, respected, and properly supported. When these workers are treated as an afterthought, it’s not just them who suffer—it’s every Canadian who relies on strong, well-functioning public services.
If the federal government wants to recruit and retain the best talent, it needs to do better. [emphasis mine] That starts with listening to workers, investing in stable and well-staffed public services, and fixing Phoenix once and for all.
Mills and, by extension, PSAC are not the only ones to note problems with the federal civil service. I’ve heard at least one political pundit stating that the federal civil service is ‘broken’, while notice was made that it was at one time considered excellent.
The Government of Canada is taking the next step toward replacing the Phoenix pay system to drive efficiency and effectiveness across government.
Today, the Honourable Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, announced that the Government of Canada is moving forward to the final build and testing phase of the Dayforce HR and pay solution. This decision follows the completion of a rigorous feasibility study and marks a significant step toward modernizing the government’s HR and pay systems.
The Dayforce solution will replace a significant number of HR systems in use across the Government of Canada. It reflects the government’s continued commitment to business and digital transformation built on transparency, efficiency, and employee experience.
The Government of Canada will finalize the configuration and testing of Dayforce and work with departments to confirm their readiness to onboard. This phased approach builds on lessons learned and will help reduce risks associated with large-scale transformation and ensure a smooth transition for employees.
Employee engagement will continue to be a key focus throughout the transformation process. By involving employees in readiness activities and ensuring continuous feedback mechanisms, the government is implementing an HR and pay solution that offers an efficient people-centric platform aligned with workforce needs.
Quotes
“The Government of Canada remains committed to modernizing its HR and pay systems in a responsible and transparent manner. By investing in the future of HR and pay, we are taking an important step forward in ensuring an efficient, secure, and sustainable solution for public service employees.”
The Honourable Joël Lightbound Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
“We are excited to strengthen our partnership with the Government of Canada. Dayforce brings together advanced technologies into a single, AI-powered people platform designed to simplify processes and deliver real value. We are committed to supporting this transformative HR and pay initiative, ensuring it enhances work-life and drives meaningful improvements for government employees across the country.”
David Ossip Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Dayforce, Inc.
Quick facts
The current pay system is used to deliver pay to an average of 431,000 current and former employees bi-weekly. In 2024, this represented approximately 13.4 million payments, totalling approximately $40.1 billion.
The complexity of the Government of Canada HR and pay environment includes the challenge of applying almost 150 different collective agreements representing employees from over 100 departments and agencies.
The initiative is incorporating lessons learned from the previous pay system implementation and recommendations intended to guide future projects of similar size and scope. In particular, recommendations around stakeholder engagement and governance were guided by Lessons Learned from the Transformation of Pay Administration Initiative (Goss Gilroy report).
Over 3,000 public servants participated in user awareness sessions during the feasibility project, with the majority of participants reporting that they found Dayforce simple and easy to use. Feedback from participants is being used to improve the system further.
Dayforce is a global human capital management technology company with deep Canadian roots. Its single AI-powered people platform for HR, pay, time, talent and analytics is trusted by thousands of customers and serves millions of employees worldwide.
Over the next 2 years, the deployment of the Dayforce solution will begin to progressively onboard starting with two departments and a separate agency, where the Government of Canada will focus on departmental readiness as it prepares to deploy the system.
Josh Pringle’s June 12, 2025 article (with files from The Canadian Press and CTV News Ottawa’s William Eltherington and Ted Raymond) for CTV news online is a little less ebullient,
The days of the troubled Phoenix pay system appear to be numbered, as the federal government moves forward with implementing the new Dayforce system for human resources and payroll tasks.
Public Works and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound announced Wednesday [June 11, 2025] that the government is moving ahead to the “final build and testing phase” of the Dayforce HR and pay solution for government employees, replacing the Phoenix system.
….
The Phoenix pay system was launched by the federal government in 2016. Since then, thousands of civil servants have been paid incorrectly by the pay system.
At least $3.5 billion has been spent by the government on the Phoenix pay system since 2017.
There were 327,000 transactions waiting to be processed through the Phoenix pay system, including 331,000 financial transactions and 9,000 transactions related to collective bargaining agreements. The government’s website shows 49 per cent of the outstanding transactions are over a year old.
In 2018, the government announced plans to replace the Phoenix pay system. More than $150 million has been spent looking into a new platform to replace the pay system.
…
Sharon DeSousa, national president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said in a statement the new pay system must be proven to work.
“After everything our members have been through at the hands of the Phoenix disaster [emphasis mine], the next pay system has to work, and it has to work from day one. That’s why PSAC is at the table asking the tough questions — to prevent another pay system disaster,” DeSousa said. “This isn’t just a tech upgrade — it’s about rebuilding trust. That starts with paying workers accurately and on time, every time. It’s the most basic obligation of any employer.”
She added that the government must not ignore the ongoing issues with Phoenix.
“With 327,000 outstanding cases, stabilizing the current system and hiring enough compensation advisors to handle pay issues has to be a top priority.”
I wish them well with their efforts to finally make bring this Phoenix pay system debacle to an end.
It is a bit curious to me that there isn’t a quote from Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, in a government news release where there’s a major initiative involving the use of artificial intelligence.
The Opening Ceremony of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) will be held from 4-5 February 2025 at UNESCO Headquarters. It marks the official commencement of a global initiative dedicated to advancing quantum science and its transformative applications. As the lead agency for IYQ, UNESCO aims to maximize the visibility of IYQ and the transformative potential of quantum science and technology in addressing critical global challenges. It will serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas, allowing participants to showcase best practices in quantum science education, research, and industry applications. It will provide an opportunity to inspire interdisciplinary and cross-regional cooperation and to address disparities between the Global North and South while inspiring inclusive innovation. The opening ceremony will also highlight the importance of integrating ethics and responsible innovation into the core of discussions.
The Exhibition
An exhibition will run alongside the event to celebrate the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Visitors can explore cutting-edge displays that showcase quantum science breakthroughs, innovative applications, and future possibilities. This interactive experience is designed to engage audiences and inspire a deeper appreciation for quantum technologies. The exhibition will be held in Salle des Actes and Salle des Pas Perdus from 3–7 February 2025 and is open throughout the day for all attendees to visit.
The Opening Ceremony and the Exhibition is open to the public and everyone is invited! Please join us!
Important Notice
Please note the dates and times of the Opening Ceremony and exhibition carefully to plan your visit. As the Opening Ceremony spans two days, we kindly ask you to specify during registration whether you will attend on February 4 [2025], February 5 [2025], or both days. Additionally, the exhibition will run from February 3–7, 2025, providing flexibility for your visit. Your timely registration helps us ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience for all attendees.
Day 1 Opening Ceremony: The Day 1 Opening Ceremony will take place on February 4, 2025, in Room I, UNESCO Headquarters, 125 Avenue de Suffren, Paris, France. The event starts at 10:00 AM, with doors opening at 8:30 AM and welcome coffee served from 9:30 AM.
Day 2 Opening Ceremony: The Day 2 Opening Ceremony will take place on February 5, 2025, in Room II, UNESCO Headquarters, 125 Avenue de Suffren, Paris, France. The event starts at 9:30 AM, with doors opening at 8:00 AM and welcome coffee served from 9:00 AM.
Exhibition: A special exhibition showcasing quantum science and its revolutionary applications will be held in Salle des Actes and Salle des Pas Perdus from February 3–7, 2025. The exhibition will be open throughout the day, providing attendees an engaging and interactive experience.
There is a registration form for attending the two day opening ceremony, there’s also a registration form for exhibitors and you can find both here. The deadline for both registrations is February 2, 2025.
The opening session will set the tone for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, emphasizing the significance of quantum advancements in shaping our future. Leaders and experts will highlight the global importance of fostering innovation and international collaboration.
10:00-10:05 Promotional Video of the International Year 10:05-10:10 Opening Ms Hayley Edmonds, master of ceremony 10:10-10:20 Welcome Address Ms Lidia BRITO, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences at UNESCO 10:10-10:25 High-Level Remarks Minister of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation of the United Mexican States(tbc) H.E. Amb. Simona-Mirela Miculescu, President of the 42nd session of the General Conference Mr Cephas Adjej MENSAH, Director of Research, Statistics and Information Management, on behalf of the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation of the Republic of Ghana 10:25-10:55 Keynote Address “Watching The Quantum World With Ultrashort Light Pulses” Prof. Anne L’HUILLIER, Physicist and 2023 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Sweden/France
10:55 -11:00 Group Photo
11:00-11:50 Fireside Chat: Shaping a Sustainable Future for Global Development
This engaging fireside chat will delve into the ways quantum technologies can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable world. Panelists will discuss strategies to bridge the global divide and ensure that the benefits of quantum advancements are shared widely.
Moderator: Ms Catarina ROLFSDOTTER-JANSSON, journalist, Moderator, TV-program host, Sweden ▪ Ms Samia Charfi KADDOUR, Professor of Physics at the Faculty of Science of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar; former Director General of Scientific Research at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Tunisia ▪ Prof. Ana Maria CETTO, Professor at the Institute of Physics, the Director of the Museum of Light at the National University of Mexico, the United Mexican States ▪ Prof. John DOYLE, Henry B. Silsbee Professor of Physics at Harvard University, President of the American Physical Society; the United States of America
11:50-12:40 Roundtable Discussion: Pushing the Frontiers of Quantum Science and Technology
Discover groundbreaking research and innovations that are pushing the boundaries of quantum science. This discussion will highlight the latest advancements and how they are shaping tomorrow’s technologies.
Moderator: Ms Maricela MUNOZ, Director External Affairs, Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), Switzerland
▪ Dr Dave SMITH, National Technology Adviser, on behalf of the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ▪ Prof. Alain ASPECT, Physicist and 2022 Nobel Laureate in Physics, France ▪ Prof. Stephanie SIMMONS, Founder & Chief Quantum Officer at Photonic, Co-Chair of Canada’s National Quantum Advisory, Canada [still a professor at Simon Fraser University?] ▪ Prof. Jian Wei PAN, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Vice Chancellor, University of Science and Technology of China, China
12:40-12:50 Music Performance
12:50-1400 Lunch Hall Segur, le Foyer and the Restaurant on the 7th floor of the UNESCO
14:00-14;50 Panel Discussion and Public Engagement and Education in Quantum Science and Technology
Explore the critical role of public engagement and education in demystifying quantum science and inspiring the next generation. Panelists will discuss initiatives that make quantum concepts accessible to diverse audiences and highlight the importance of inclusivity in science education.
Moderator: Prof. Emily EDWARDS, Associate Research Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Duke Quantum Center, United States of America ▪ Prof. Andrzej SZEPTYCKI, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland ▪ Prof. Jacquiline ROMERO, Associate Professor, Reader and Westpac Research Fellow, School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland Australia/the Republic of the Philippines. ▪ Dr Yaseera ISMAIL, Senior lecturer, Department of Physics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa ▪ Ms Elisa Torres DURNEY, CEO of Girls in Quantum; Chile ▪ Dr John DONOHUE, Senior Manager of Scientific Outreach at the Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo; Canada
14:50-15:40 Roundtable Discussion: Policy and Innovation in Quantum Science for Advancing Global Goals for Sustainable Development
This session will explore how policies and innovation in quantum science can be aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The discussion will focus on harnessing quantum advancements for climate action, economic growth, and societal well-being.
Moderator: Prof. Luiz DAVIDOVICH, Professor Emeritus at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Distinguished fellow at the Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering of the University of Texas A&M [Texas A&M University], Brazil ▪ Mr. Seizo ONOE, Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, International Telecommunication Union ▪ Prof. Serge HAROCHE, Physicist and 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics, France ▪ Dr Najwa AARAJ, CEO of Technology Innovation Institute, UAE ▪ Prof. Tommaso CALARCO, Director of the Institute for Quantum Control in Jülich, Coordinator of EU Quantum Flagship; Germany/Italy ▪ Dr Cathy FOLEY, Board member of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation of Australia
15:40-16:35 Networking Session Coffee Break
16:35-17:45 Insight Talk by Nobel Laureate on Quantum Mechanics 2025: Incredible Past, Amazing Present, Magnificent Future
Be inspired by the insights of Prof. William D. Phillips, 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics, as he shares his unique perspective on the wonders of quantum science. This engaging session allows attendees to interact with one of the field’s most esteemed figures.
Moderator: Prof. Rosario FAZIO, Head of the Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics Section, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
Speaker: Prof. William D. PHILLIPS, Physicist and 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics, United States of America
17:05-18:05 Voices from the Industry: The Challenge of Developing Quantum at Scale
This panel will address the challenges and opportunities of scaling quantum technologies for practical use. Industry leaders will share their experiences in bringing quantum research to market, showcasing groundbreaking developments in this field.
Moderator: Dr. Celia MERZBACHER, Executive Director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) ▪ Ms Katie PIZZOLATO, Vice President of Quantum Algorithms and Scientific Partnerships, IBM ▪ Dr Krysta SVORE, Technical Fellow, Microsoft ▪ Dr Rajeeb HAZRA, CEO of Quantinuum ▪ Dr Grégoire RIBORDY, CEO of ID Quantique ▪ Prof. Alexander LING, Principal Investigator, Centre for Quantum Technologies, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore; Co-founder of SpeQtral & S-Fifteen Instruments, Singapore. ▪ Dr Takuya Kitagawa, President, QuEra
18:05-18:25 UNESCO’s Role in Reducing the Quantum Divide: Advancing Global Innovation and Inclusion
This session highlights UNESCO’s commitment to reducing the global quantum divide by fostering innovation, building capacities, and advancing inclusion between the Global North and South. It emphasizes the transformative potential of quantum science and technology while ensuring its ethical and responsible applications. By bridging technical gaps and promoting equity, UNESCO reaffirms its dedication to leveraging quantum technologies for sustainable and inclusive development.
Host: Ms Lidia BRITO, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO ▪ Ms Dafna FEINHOLZ, Director a.i. Division of Research, Ethics and Inclusion, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO ▪ Mr. Guilherme CANELA DE SOUZA GODOI, Director of Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation (CI/DPT) and Secretary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP), Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO ▪ Mr Atish DABHOLKAR, Director of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, UNESCO
18:25-18:30 Day one Concluding Notes
Sir Peter KNIGHT, Professor, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Chair of the Quantum Metrology Institute, National Physical Laboratory, co-chair of the Steering Committee of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Day 2 5 February 2025 Room II
09:00-09:30 Welcome Coffee
09:30-09:45 Introductory Session
Begin the day with reflections on the importance of ethics in quantum science and its role in shaping responsible innovation and inclusive governance, setting the tone for the day’s discussions.
09:30-09:35 Welcome address by the Master of Ceremonies Ms Hayley EDMONDS, journalist, France 09:35-09:40 Introductory remarks (video meesage) Ms Gabriela RAMOS, Assistant Director-General of Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO 09:40-09:45 Scene Setting Allocution Prof. Yasser OMAR, Theoretical Physicist, IST, University of Lisbon & President of PQI – Portuguese Quantum Institutel
09:45-10:45 Panel Discussion: Ethics of Quantum Technologies
This panel will explore the ethical challenges of quantum advancements and the need for an anticipatory approach and a global reflection to understand the potential benefits and risks of these powerful technologies. Panelists will discuss why an ethical and human rights-based framework is essential to ensure ethical guardrails while enabling responsible innovation.
09:45-09:50 Scene Setting Allocution Prof. Pieter VERMAAS, Philosopher and Head of the Quantum Lab, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of TU Delft, and Lead of ethics research, Dutch Quantum Delta, Kingdom of the Netherlands 09:50-10:35 Panel Discussion ’ Moderator: Mr Diederick CROESE, Director of the Centre for Quantum and Society, Quantum Delta NL, Kingdom of the Netherlands ▪ Prof. Emma RUTTKAMP-BLOEM, Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria, Chairperson of the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), South Africa ▪ Professor Sang Wook YI, Professor of Philosophy, Hanyang University, Chairperson, Division of Ethics and Safety, National High-Level Committee for AI Strategies, Rapporteur of the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), Republic of Korea ▪ Prof. Karina Garay PALMETT, Senior Researcher, Department of Optics of the Division of Applied Physics of the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada, the United Mexican States ▪ Prof. Shohini GHOSE, Professor of Physics and Computer Science at Wilfrid Laurier University and Chief Technology Officer, Quantum Algorithms Institute, Canada ▪ Prof. Anil PRABHAKAR, Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Co-Founder of QuNu Labs and Quanfluence, India
10:35-10:45 Q&A session
This panel focuses on fostering responsible innovation in quantum science to ensure its alignment with global ethical standards and sustainable development goals. This panel will discuss strategies, challenges, and opportunities for integrating responsibility into the research and deployment of quantum technologies. Panelists will focus on concrete ways to create responsible and inclusive innovation systems and how open-source applications can be promoted to prevent further widening digital divides.
11:05-11:10 Scene Setting Allocution Prof. Matthias C. KETTEMANN, Professor of Innovation, Theory and Philosophy of Law, University of Innsbruck, and Director of the Innsbruck Quantum Ethics Lab, Member of the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), Republic of Austria
11:10-12:00 Panel Discussion
Moderator: Mr Diederick CROESE, Director of the Centre for Quantum and Society, Quantum Delta NL, Kingdom of the Netherlands ▪ Dr Mira Luca WOLF-BAUWENS, Responsible Quantum Computing Lead in the Responsible & Inclusive Technology Team, IBM Research, Switzerland ▪ Dr. Prince OSEI, Lead Scientist & Director for Quantum Leap Africa, President of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Ghana ▪ Prof. Farida FASSI, Professor of Physics at the Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Member of African Academy of Sciences, Morocco ▪ Prof. Matthias C. KETTEMANN, Professor of Innovation, Theory and Philosophy of Law, University of Innsbruck, and Director of the Innsbruck Quantum Ethics Lab, Member of the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), Republic of Austria ▪ Prof. Yasser OMAR, Theoretical Physicist, President of IST, University of Lisbon & PQI – Portuguese Quantum Institute, Portugal
12:00-12:10 Q&A session
12:10-12:30 Closing of Day 2 and the Launch of the International Year
Celebrate the successful completion of Day 2 of the Opening Ceremony and the launch of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology with reflections from UNESCO’s leadership and closing cultural performances. Final remarks will emphasise the global importance of quantum advancements and the collaborative efforts needed to harness their full potential.
12:10-12:15 Concluding notes of Day Two Ms Claudia REINPRECHT, Focal point of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in digital and tech diplomacy and for the EU Digital Diplomacy Network, Republic of Austria
12:15-12:25 Closing of the Launch of the International of the Year Quantum Science and Technology Ms Dafna FEINHOLZ, Director a.i. Division of Research, Ethics and Inclusion, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO Ms Lidia BRITO, Assistant Director-General of Natural Sciences, UNESCO
Side-Exhibition
An exhibition for the IYQ will be held on Salle des Actes and Salle des Pas Perdus.
I have posted this as a prelude (of sorts) to my commentary on the November 2023 Council of Canadian Academies’ report, Quantum Potential.
ETA: On February 3, 2025 all tags added except ‘UNESCO’ and ‘International Year of Quantum Science and Technology’, which were included when previously published.
I haven’t seen this much interest in the ethics and social impacts of emerging technologies in years. It seems that the latest AI (artificial intelligence) panic has stimulated interest not only in regulation but ethics too.
NSF and philanthropic partners announce $16 million in funding to prioritize ethical and social considerations in emerging technologies
ReDDDoT is a collaboration with five philanthropic partners and crosses all disciplines of science and engineering_
The U.S. National Science Foundation today launched a new $16 million program in collaboration with five philanthropic partners that seeks to ensure ethical, legal, community and societal considerations are embedded in the lifecycle of technology’s creation and use. The Responsible Design, Development and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT) program aims to help create technologies that promote the public’s wellbeing and mitigate potential harms.
“The design, development and deployment of technologies have broad impacts on society,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “As discoveries and innovations are translated to practice, it is essential that we engage and enable diverse communities to participate in this work. NSF and its philanthropic partners share a strong commitment to creating a comprehensive approach for co-design through soliciting community input, incorporating community values and engaging a broad array of academic and professional voices across the lifecycle of technology creation and use.”
The ReDDDoT program invites proposals from multidisciplinary, multi-sector teams that examine and demonstrate the principles, methodologies and impacts associated with responsible design, development and deployment of technologies, especially those specified in the “CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.” In addition to NSF, the program is funded and supported by the Ford Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, Siegel Family Endowment and the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation.
“In recognition of the role responsible technologists can play to advance human progress, and the danger unaccountable technology poses to social justice, the ReDDDoT program serves as both a collaboration and a covenant between philanthropy and government to center public interest technology into the future of progress,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “This $16 million initiative will cultivate expertise from public interest technologists across sectors who are rooted in community and grounded by the belief that innovation, equity and ethics must equally be the catalysts for technological progress.”
The broad goals of ReDDDoT include:
*Stimulating activity and filling gaps in research, innovation and capacity building in the responsible design, development, and deployment of technologies. * Creating broad and inclusive communities of interest that bring together key stakeholders to better inform practices for the design, development, and deployment of technologies. * Educating and training the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce on approaches to responsible design, development, and deployment of technologies. * Accelerating pathways to societal and economic benefits while developing strategies to avoid or mitigate societal and economic harms. * Empowering communities, including economically disadvantaged and marginalized populations, to participate in all stages of technology development, including the earliest stages of ideation and design.
Phase 1 of the program solicits proposals for Workshops, Planning Grants, or the creation of Translational Research Coordination Networks, while Phase 2 solicits full project proposals. The initial areas of focus for 2024 include artificial intelligence, biotechnology or natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation. Future iterations of the program may consider other key technology focus areas enumerated in the CHIPS and Science Act.
“The core belief at the heart of ReDDDoT – that technology should be shaped by ethical, legal, and societal considerations as well as community values – also drives the work of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation to build a human-centered digital future for all. We’re pleased to support this partnership, committed to advancing the development of AI, biotechnology, and climate technologies that advance equity, sustainability, and justice.” – Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
“From generative AI to quantum computing, the pace of technology development is only accelerating. Too often, technological advances are not accompanied by discussion and design that considers negative impacts or unrealized potential. We’re excited to support ReDDDoT as an opportunity to uplift new and often forgotten perspectives that critically examine technology’s impact on civic life, and advance Siegel Family Endowment’s vision of technological change that includes and improves the lives of all people.” – Katy Knight, President and Executive Director of Siegel Family Endowment
The University of Maryland has been chosen to lead a multi-institutional effort supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will develop new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies designed to promote trust and mitigate risks, while simultaneously empowering and educating the public.
The NSF Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS) announced on May 4, 2023, unites specialists in AI and machine learning with social scientists, legal scholars, educators and public policy experts. The multidisciplinary team will work with impacted communities, private industry and the federal government to determine what trust in AI looks like, how to develop technical solutions for AI that can be trusted, and which policy models best create and sustain trust.
Funded by a $20 million award from NSF, the new institute is expected to transform the practice of AI from one driven primarily by technological innovation to one that is driven by ethics, human rights, and input and feedback from communities whose voices have previously been marginalized.
“As artificial intelligence continues to grow exponentially, we must embrace its potential for helping to solve the grand challenges of our time, as well as ensure that it is used both ethically and responsibly,” said UMD President Darryll J. Pines. “With strong federal support, this new institute will lead in defining the science and innovation needed to harness the power of AI for the benefit of the public good and all humankind.”
In addition to UMD, TRAILS will include faculty members from George Washington University (GW) and Morgan State University, with more support coming from Cornell University, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and private sector organizations like the DataedX Group, Arthur AI, Checkstep, FinRegLab and Techstars.
At the heart of establishing the new institute is the consensus that AI is currently at a crossroads. AI-infused systems have great potential to enhance human capacity, increase productivity, catalyze innovation, and mitigate complex problems, but today’s systems are developed and deployed in a process that is opaque and insular to the public, and therefore, often untrustworthy to those affected by the technology.
“We’ve structured our research goals to educate, learn from, recruit, retain and support communities whose voices are often not recognized in mainstream AI development,” said Hal Daumé III, a UMD professor of computer science who is lead principal investigator of the NSF award and will serve as the director of TRAILS.
Inappropriate trust in AI can result in many negative outcomes, Daumé said. People often “overtrust” AI systems to do things they’re fundamentally incapable of. This can lead to people or organizations giving up their own power to systems that are not acting in their best interest. At the same time, people can also “undertrust” AI systems, leading them to avoid using systems that could ultimately help them.
Given these conditions—and the fact that AI is increasingly being deployed to mediate society’s online communications, determine health care options, and offer guidelines in the criminal justice system—it has become urgent to ensure that people’s trust in AI systems matches those same systems’ level of trustworthiness.
TRAILS has identified four key research thrusts to promote the development of AI systems that can earn the public’s trust through broader participation in the AI ecosystem.
The first, known as participatory AI, advocates involving human stakeholders in the development, deployment and use of these systems. It aims to create technology in a way that aligns with the values and interests of diverse groups of people, rather than being controlled by a few experts or solely driven by profit.
Leading the efforts in participatory AI is Katie Shilton, an associate professor in UMD’s College of Information Studies who specializes in ethics and sociotechnical systems. Tom Goldstein, a UMD associate professor of computer science, will lead the institute’s second research thrust, developing advanced machine learning algorithms that reflect the values and interests of the relevant stakeholders.
Daumé, Shilton and Goldstein all have appointments in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, which is providing administrative and technical support for TRAILS.
David Broniatowski, an associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering at GW, will lead the institute’s third research thrust of evaluating how people make sense of the AI systems that are developed, and the degree to which their levels of reliability, fairness, transparency and accountability will lead to appropriate levels of trust. Susan Ariel Aaronson, a research professor of international affairs at GW, will use her expertise in data-driven change and international data governance to lead the institute’s fourth thrust of participatory governance and trust.
Virginia Byrne, an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs at Morgan State, will lead community-driven projects related to the interplay between AI and education. According to Daumé, the TRAILS team will rely heavily on Morgan State’s leadership—as Maryland’s preeminent public urban research university—in conducting rigorous, participatory community-based research with broad societal impacts.
Additional academic support will come from Valerie Reyna, a professor of human development at Cornell, who will use her expertise in human judgment and cognition to advance efforts focused on how people interpret their use of AI.
Federal officials at NIST will collaborate with TRAILS in the development of meaningful measures, benchmarks, test beds and certification methods—particularly as they apply to important topics essential to trust and trustworthiness such as safety, fairness, privacy, transparency, explainability, accountability, accuracy and reliability.
“The ability to measure AI system trustworthiness and its impacts on individuals, communities and society is limited. TRAILS can help advance our understanding of the foundations of trustworthy AI, ethical and societal considerations of AI, and how to build systems that are trusted by the people who use and are affected by them,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio.
Today’s announcement [May 4, 2023] is the latest in a series of federal grants establishing a cohort of National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes. This recent investment in seven new AI institutes, totaling $140 million, follows two previous rounds of awards.
“Maryland is at the forefront of our nation’s scientific innovation thanks to our talented workforce, top-tier universities, and federal partners,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “This National Science Foundation award for the University of Maryland—in coordination with other Maryland-based research institutions including Morgan State University and NIST—will promote ethical and responsible AI development, with the goal of helping us harness the benefits of this powerful emerging technology while limiting the potential risks it poses. This investment entrusts Maryland with a critical priority for our shared future, recognizing the unparalleled ingenuity and world-class reputation of our institutions.”
The NSF, in collaboration with government agencies and private sector leaders, has now invested close to half a billion dollars in the AI institutes ecosystem—an investment that expands a collaborative AI research network into almost every U.S. state.
“The National AI Research Institutes are a critical component of our nation’s AI innovation, infrastructure, technology, education and partnerships ecosystem,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “[They] are driving discoveries that will ensure our country is at the forefront of the global AI revolution.”
As noted in the UMD news release, this funding is part of a ‘bundle’, here’s more from the May 4, 2023 US NSF news release announcing the full $ 140 million funding program, Note: Links have been removed,
The U.S. National Science Foundation, in collaboration with other federal agencies, higher education institutions and other stakeholders, today announced a $140 million investment to establish seven new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes. The announcement is part of a broader effort across the federal government to advance a cohesive approach to AI-related opportunities and risks.
The new AI Institutes will advance foundational AI research that promotes ethical and trustworthy AI systems and technologies, develop novel approaches to cybersecurity, contribute to innovative solutions to climate change, expand the understanding of the brain, and leverage AI capabilities to enhance education and public health. The institutes will support the development of a diverse AI workforce in the U.S. and help address the risks and potential harms posed by AI. This investment means NSF and its funding partners have now invested close to half a billion dollars in the AI Institutes research network, which reaches almost every U.S. state.
“The National AI Research Institutes are a critical component of our nation’s AI innovation, infrastructure, technology, education and partnerships ecosystem,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “These institutes are driving discoveries that will ensure our country is at the forefront of the global AI revolution.”
“These strategic federal investments will advance American AI infrastructure and innovation, so that AI can help tackle some of the biggest challenges we face, from climate change to health. Importantly, the growing network of National AI Research Institutes will promote responsible innovation that safeguards people’s safety and rights,” said White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar.
The new AI Institutes are interdisciplinary collaborations among top AI researchers and are supported by co-funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST); U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T); U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA); U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (ED-IES); U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (DoD OUSD R&E); and IBM Corporation (IBM).
“Foundational research in AI and machine learning has never been more critical to the understanding, creation and deployment of AI-powered systems that deliver transformative and trustworthy solutions across our society,” said NSF Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering Margaret Martonosi. “These recent awards, as well as our AI Institutes ecosystem as a whole, represent our active efforts in addressing national economic and societal priorities that hinge on our nation’s AI capability and leadership.”
The new AI Institutes focus on six research themes:
Trustworthy AI
NSF Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS)
Led by the University of Maryland, TRAILS aims to transform the practice of AI from one driven primarily by technological innovation to one driven with attention to ethics, human rights and support for communities whose voices have been marginalized into mainstream AI. TRAILS will be the first institute of its kind to integrate participatory design, technology, and governance of AI systems and technologies and will focus on investigating what trust in AI looks like, whether current technical solutions for AI can be trusted, and which policy models can effectively sustain AI trustworthiness. TRAILS is funded by a partnership between NSF and NIST.
Intelligent Agents for Next-Generation Cybersecurity
AI Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation (ACTION)
Led by the University of California, Santa Barbara, this institute will develop novel approaches that leverage AI to anticipate and take corrective actions against cyberthreats that target the security and privacy of computer networks and their users. The team of researchers will work with experts in security operations to develop a revolutionary approach to cybersecurity, in which AI-enabled intelligent security agents cooperate with humans across the cyberdefense life cycle to jointly improve the resilience of security of computer systems over time. ACTION is funded by a partnership between NSF, DHS S&T, and IBM.
Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry
AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE)
Led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, this institute aims to advance foundational AI by incorporating knowledge from agriculture and forestry sciences and leveraging these unique, new AI methods to curb climate effects while lifting rural economies. By creating a new scientific discipline and innovation ecosystem intersecting AI and climate-smart agriculture and forestry, our researchers and practitioners will discover and invent compelling AI-powered knowledge and solutions. Examples include AI-enhanced estimation methods of greenhouse gases and specialized field-to-market decision support tools. A key goal is to lower the cost of and improve accounting for carbon in farms and forests to empower carbon markets and inform decision making. The institute will also expand and diversify rural and urban AI workforces. AI-CLIMATE is funded by USDA-NIFA.
Neural and Cognitive Foundations of Artificial Intelligence
AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence (ARNI)
Led by Columbia University, this institute will draw together top researchers across the country to focus on a national priority: connecting the major progress made in AI systems to the revolution in our understanding of the brain. ARNI will meet the urgent need for new paradigms of interdisciplinary research between neuroscience, cognitive science and AI. This will accelerate progress in all three fields and broaden the transformative impact on society in the next decade. ARNI is funded by a partnership between NSF and DoD OUSD R&E.
AI for Decision Making
AI Institute for Societal Decision Making (AI-SDM)
Led by Carnegie Mellon University, this institute seeks to create human-centric AI for decision making to bolster effective response in uncertain, dynamic and resource-constrained scenarios like disaster management and public health. By bringing together an interdisciplinary team of AI and social science researchers, AI-SDM will enable emergency managers, public health officials, first responders, community workers and the public to make decisions that are data driven, robust, agile, resource efficient and trustworthy. The vision of the institute will be realized via development of AI theory and methods, translational research, training and outreach, enabled by partnerships with diverse universities, government organizations, corporate partners, community colleges, public libraries and high schools.
AI-Augmented Learning to Expand Education Opportunities and Improve Outcomes
AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education (INVITE)
Led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, this institute seeks to fundamentally reframe how educational technologies interact with learners by developing AI tools and approaches to support three crucial noncognitive skills known to underlie effective learning: persistence, academic resilience and collaboration. The institute’s use-inspired research will focus on how children communicate STEM content, how they learn to persist through challenging work, and how teachers support and promote noncognitive skill development. The resultant AI-based tools will be integrated into classrooms to empower teachers to support learners in more developmentally appropriate ways.
AI Institute for Exceptional Education (AI4ExceptionalEd)
Led by the University at Buffalo, this institute will work toward universal speech and language screening for children. The framework, the AI screener, will analyze video and audio streams of children during classroom interactions and assess the need for evidence-based interventions tailored to individual needs of students. The institute will serve children in need of ability-based speech and language services, advance foundational AI technologies and enhance understanding of childhood speech and language development. The AI Institute for Exceptional Education was previously announced in January 2023. The INVITE and AI4ExceptionalEd institutes are funded by a partnership between NSF and ED-IES.
Statements from NSF’s Federal Government Funding Partners
“Increasing AI system trustworthiness while reducing its risks will be key to unleashing AI’s potential benefits and ensuring our shared societal values,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “Today, the ability to measure AI system trustworthiness and its impacts on individuals, communities and society is limited. TRAILS can help advance our understanding of the foundations of trustworthy AI, ethical and societal considerations of AI, and how to build systems that are trusted by the people who use and are affected by them.”
“The ACTION Institute will help us better assess the opportunities and risks of rapidly evolving AI technology and its impact on DHS missions,” said Dimitri Kusnezov, DHS under secretary for science and technology. “This group of researchers and their ambition to push the limits of fundamental AI and apply new insights represents a significant investment in cybersecurity defense. These partnerships allow us to collectively remain on the forefront of leading-edge research for AI technologies.”
“In the tradition of USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture investments, this new institute leverages the scientific power of U.S. land-grant universities informed by close partnership with farmers, producers, educators and innovators to address the grand challenge of rising greenhouse gas concentrations and associated climate change,” said Acting NIFA Director Dionne Toombs. “This innovative center will address the urgent need to counter climate-related threats, lower greenhouse gas emissions, grow the American workforce and increase new rural opportunities.”
“The leading-edge in AI research inevitably draws from our, so far, limited understanding of human cognition. This AI Institute seeks to unify the fields of AI and neuroscience to bring advanced designs and approaches to more capable and trustworthy AI, while also providing better understanding of the human brain,” said Bindu Nair, director, Basic Research Office, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. “We are proud to partner with NSF in this critical field of research, as continued advancement in these areas holds the potential for further and significant benefits to national security, the economy and improvements in quality of life.”
“We are excited to partner with NSF on these two AI institutes,” said IES Director Mark Schneider. “We hope that they will provide valuable insights into how to tap modern technologies to improve the education sciences — but more importantly we hope that they will lead to better student outcomes and identify ways to free up the time of teachers to deliver more informed individualized instruction for the students they care so much about.”
Two things I noticed, (1) No mention of including ethics training or concepts in science and technology education and (2) No mention of integrating ethics and social issues into any of the AI Institutes. So, it seems that ‘Responsible Design, Development and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT)’ occupies its own fiefdom.
Some sobering thoughts
Things can go terribly wrong with new technology as seen in the British television hit series, Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office (based on a true story) , from a January 9, 2024 posting by Ani Blundel for tellyvisions.org,
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… what is this show that’s caused the entire country to rise up as one to defend the rights of the lowly sub-postal worker? Known as the “British Post Office scandal,” the incidents first began in 1999 when the U.K. postal system began to switch to digital systems, using the Horizon Accounting system to track the monies brought in. However, the IT system was faulty from the start, and rather than blame the technology, the British government accused, arrested, persecuted, and convicted over 700 postal workers of fraud and theft. This continued through 2015 when the glitch was finally recognized, and in 2019, the convictions were ruled to be a miscarriage of justice.
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Here’s the series synopsis:
The drama tells the story of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud, and false accounting due to a defective IT system. Many of the wronged workers were prosecuted, some of whom were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, and their lives were irreparably ruined by the scandal. Following the landmark Court of Appeal decision to overturn their criminal convictions, dozens of former sub-postmasters and postmistresses have been exonerated on all counts as they battled to finally clear their names. They fought for over ten years, finally proving their innocence and sealing a resounding victory, but all involved believe the fight is not over yet, not by a long way.
Here’s a video trailer for ‘Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office,
The outcry from the general public against the government’s bureaucratic mismanagement and abuse of employees has been loud and sustained enough that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had to come out with a statement condemning what happened back during the 2009 incident. Further, the current Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, is now trying to figure out the fastest way to exonerate the hundreds of sub-post managers and sub-postmistresses who were wrongfully convicted back then and if there are steps to be taken to punish the post office a decade later.
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It’s a horrifying story and the worst I’ve seen so far but, sadly, it’s not the only one of its kind.
Too often people’s concerns and worries about new technology are dismissed or trivialized. Somehow, all the work done to establish ethical standards and develop trust seems to be used as a kind of sop to the concerns rather than being integrated into the implementation of life-altering technologies.
Researchers present NorthPole – a brain-inspired chip architecture that blends computation with memory to process data efficiently at low-energy costs. Since its inception, computing has been processor-centric, with memory separated from compute. However, shuttling large amounts of data between memory and compute comes at a high price in terms of both energy consumption and processing bandwidth and speed. This is particularly evident in the case of emerging and advanced real-time artificial intelligence (AI) applications like facial recognition, object detection, and behavior monitoring, which require fast access to vast amounts of data. As a result, most contemporary computer architectures are rapidly reaching physical and processing bottlenecks and risk becoming economically, technically, and environmentally unsustainable, given the growing energy costs involved. Inspired by the neural architecture of the organic brain, Dharmendra Modha and colleagues developed NorthPole – a neural inference architecture that intertwines compute with memory on a single chip. According to the authors, NorthPole “reimagines the interaction between compute and memory” by blending brain-inspired computing and semiconductor technology. It achieves higher performance, energy-efficiency, and area-efficiency compared to other comparable architectures, including those that use more advanced technology processes. And, because NorthPole is a digital system, it is not subject to the device noise and systemic biases and drifts that afflict analog systems. Modha et al. demonstrate NorthPole’s capabilities by testing it on the ResNet50 benchmark image classification network, where it achieved 25 times higher energy metric of frames per second (FPS) per watt, a 5 times higher space metric of FPS per transistor, and a 22 times lower time metric of latency relative to comparable technology. In a related Perspective, Subramanian Iyer and Vwani Roychowdhury discuss NorthPole’s advancements and limitations in greater detail.
By the way, the NorthPole chip is a result of IBM research as noted in Charles Q. Choi’s October 23, 2023 article for IEEE Spectrum magazine (IEEE is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Note: Links have been removed,
A brain-inspired chip from IBM, dubbed NorthPole, is more than 20 times as fast as—and roughly 25 times as energy efficient as—any microchip currently on the market when it comes to artificial intelligence tasks. According to a study from IBM, applications for the new silicon chip may include autonomous vehicles and robotics.
Brain-inspired computer hardware aims to mimic a human brain’s exceptional ability to rapidly perform computations in an extraordinarily energy-efficient manner. These machines are often used to implement neural networks, which similarly imitate the way a brain learns and operates.
“The brain is vastly more energy-efficient than modern computers, in part because it stores memory with compute in every neuron,” says study lead author Dharmendra Modha, IBM’s chief scientist for brain-inspired computing.
“NorthPole merges the boundaries between brain-inspired computing and silicon-optimized computing, between compute and memory, between hardware and software,” Modha says.
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The scientists note that IBM fabricated NorthPole with a 12-nm node process. The current state of the art for CPUs is 3 nm, and IBM has spent years researching 2-nm nodes. This suggests further gains with this brain-inspired strategy may prove readily available, the company says.
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The NorthPole chip is preceded by another IBM brain-inspired chip, TrueNorth. (Use the term “TrueNorth” in the blog search engine, if you want to see more about that and other brain-inspired chips.)
Choi’s October 23, 2023 article features technical information but a surprising amount is accessible to an interested reader who’s not an engineer.
There’s a video, which seems to have been produced by IBM,
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Neural inference at the frontier of energy, space, and time by Dharmendra S. Modha, Filipp Akopyan, Alexander Andreopoulos, Rathinakumar Appuswamy, John V. Arthur, Andrew S. Cassidy, Pallab Datta, Michael V. DeBole, Steven K. Esser, Carlos Ortega Otero, Jun Sawada, Brian Taba, Arnon Amir, Deepika Bablani, Peter J. Carlson, Myron D. Flickner, Rajamohan Gandhasri, Guillaume J. Garreau, Megumi Ito, Jennifer L. Klamo, Jeffrey A. Kusnitz, Nathaniel J. McClatchey, Jeffrey L. McKinstry, Yutaka Nakamura, Tapan K. Nayak, William P. Risk, Kai Schleupen, Ben Shaw, Jay Sivagnaname, Daniel F. Smith, Ignacio Terrizzano, and Takanori Ueda. Science 19 Oct 2023 Vol 382, Issue 6668 pp. 329-335 DOI: 10.1126/science.adh1174
it seems IBM is very excited about neuromorphic computing. First, there’s an August 10, 2023 news article by Shiona McCallum & Chris Vallance for British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) online news,
Concerns have been raised about emissions associated with warehouses full of computers powering AI systems.
IBM said its prototype could lead to more efficient, less battery draining AI chips for smartphones.
Its efficiency is down to components that work in a similar way to connections in human brains, it said.
Compared to traditional computers, “the human brain is able to achieve remarkable performance while consuming little power”, said scientist Thanos Vasilopoulos, based at IBM’s research lab in Zurich, Switzerland.
Most chips are digital, meaning they store information as 0s and 1s, but the new chip uses components called memristors [memory resistors] that are analogue and can store a range of numbers.
You can think of the difference between digital and analogue as like the difference between a light switch and a dimmer switch.
The human brain is analogue, and the way memristors work is similar to the way synapses in the brain work.
Prof Ferrante Neri, from the University of Surrey, explains that memristors fall into the realm of what you might call nature-inspired computing that mimics brain function.
A memristor could “remember” its electric history, in a similar way to a synapse in a biological system.
“Interconnected memristors can form a network resembling a biological brain,” he said.
He was cautiously optimistic about the future for chips using this technology: “These advancements suggest that we may be on the cusp of witnessing the emergence of brain-like chips in the near future.”
However, he warned that developing a memristor-based computer is not a simple task and that there would be a number of challenges ahead for widespread adoption, including the costs of materials and manufacturing difficulties.
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Neri is most likely aware that researchers have been excited that ‘green’ computing could be made possible by memristors since at least 2008 (see my May 9, 2008 posting “Memristors and green energy“).
As it turns out, IBM published two studies on neuromorphic chips in August 2023.
The first study (mentioned in the BBC article) is also described in an August 22, 2023 article by Peter Grad for Tech Xpore. This one is a little more technical than the BBC article,
For those who are truly technical, here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
A 64-core mixed-signal in-memory compute chip based on phase-change memory for deep neural network inference by Manuel Le Gallo, Riduan Khaddam-Aljameh, Milos Stanisavljevic, Athanasios Vasilopoulos, Benedikt Kersting, Martino Dazzi, Geethan Karunaratne, Matthias Brändli, Abhairaj Singh, Silvia M. Müller, Julian Büchel, Xavier Timoneda, Vinay Joshi, Malte J. Rasch, Urs Egger, Angelo Garofalo, Anastasios Petropoulos, Theodore Antonakopoulos, Kevin Brew, Samuel Choi, Injo Ok, Timothy Philip, Victor Chan, Claire Silvestre, Ishtiaq Ahsan, Nicole Saulnier, Nicole Saulnier, Pier Andrea Francese, Evangelos Eleftheriou & Abu Sebastian. Nature Electronics (2023) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-023-01010-1 Published: 10 August 2023
This paper is behind a paywall.
Before getting to the second paper, there’s an August 23, 2023 IBM blog post by Mike Murphy announcing its publication in Nature, Note: Links have been removed,
Although we’re still just at the precipice of the AI revolution, artificial intelligence has already begun to revolutionize the way we live and work. There’s just one problem: AI technology is incredibly power-hungry. By some estimates, running a large AI model generates more emissions over its lifetime than the average American car.
The future of AI requires new innovations in energy efficiency, from the way models are designed down to the hardware that runs them. And in a world that’s increasingly threatened by climate change, any advances in AI energy efficiency are essential to keep pace with AI’s rapidly expanding carbon footprint.
And one of the latest breakthroughs in AI efficiency from IBM Research relies on analog chips — ones that consume much less power. In a paper published in Nature today,1 researchers from IBM labs around the world presented their prototype analog AI chip for energy-efficient speech recognition and transcription. Their design was utilized in two AI inference experiments, and in both cases, the analog chips performed these tasks just as reliably as comparable all-digital devices — but finished the tasks faster and used less energy.
The concept of designing analog chips for AI inference is not new — researchers have been contemplating the idea for years. Back in 2021, a team at IBM developed chips that use Phase-change memory (PCM) works when an electrical pulse is applied to a material, which changes the conductance of the device. The material switches between amorphous and crystalline phases, where a lower electrical pulse will make the device more crystalline, providing less resistance, and a high enough electrical pulse makes the device amorphous, resulting in large resistance. Instead of recording the usual 0s or 1s you would see in digital systems, the PCM device records its state as a continuum of values between the amorphous and crystalline states. This value is called a synaptic weight, which can be stored in the physical atomic configuration of each PCM device. The memory is non-volatile, so the weights are retained when the power supply is switched off.phase-change memory to encode the weights of a neural network directly onto the physical chip. But previous research in the field hasn’t shown how chips like these could be used on the massive models we see dominating the AI landscape today. For example, GPT-3, one of the larger popular models, has 175 billion parameters, or weights.
Murphy also explains the difference (for amateurs like me) between this work and the earlier published study, from the August 23, 2023 IBM blog post, Note: Links have been removed,
Natural-language tasks aren’t the only AI problems that analog AI could solve — IBM researchers are working on a host of other uses. In a paper published earlier this month in Nature Electronics, the team showed it was possible to use an energy-efficient analog chip design for scalable mixed-signal architecture that can achieve high accuracy in the CIFAR-10 image dataset for computer vision image recognition.
These chips were conceived and designed by IBM researchers in the Tokyo, Zurich, Yorktown Heights, New York, and Almaden, California labs, and built by an external fabrication company. The phase change memory and metal levels were processed and validated at IBM Research’s lab in the Albany Nanotech Complex.
If you were to combine the benefits of the work published today in Nature, such as large arrays and parallel data-transport, with the capable digital compute-blocks of the chip shown in the Nature Electronics paper, you would see many of the building blocks needed to realize the vision of a fast, low-power analog AI inference accelerator. And pairing these designs with hardware-resilient training algorithms, the team expects these AI devices to deliver the software equivalent of neural network accuracies for a wide range of AI models in the future.
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Here’s a link to and a citation for the second paper,
An analog-AI chip for energy-efficient speech recognition and transcription by S. Ambrogio, P. Narayanan, A. Okazaki, A. Fasoli, C. Mackin, K. Hosokawa, A. Nomura, T. Yasuda, A. Chen, A. Friz, M. Ishii, J. Luquin, Y. Kohda, N. Saulnier, K. Brew, S. Choi, I. Ok, T. Philip, V. Chan, C. Silvestre, I. Ahsan, V. Narayanan, H. Tsai & G. W. Burr. Nature volume 620, pages 768–775 (2023) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06337-5 Published: 23 August 2023 Issue Date: 24 August 2023
I stumbled across two news bits of interest from the Technical University of Munich in one day (Sept. 1, 2020, I think). The topics: artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).
The increasing use of AI (artificial intelligence) in the development of new medical technologies demands greater attention to ethical aspects. An interdisciplinary team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) advocates the integration of ethics from the very beginning of the development process of new technologies. Alena Buyx, Professor of Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies, explains the embedded ethics approach.
Professor Buyx, the discussions surrounding a greater emphasis on ethics in AI research have greatly intensified in recent years, to the point where one might speak of “ethics hype” …
Prof. Buyx: … and many committees in Germany and around the world such as the German Ethics Council or the EU Commission High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence have responded. They are all in agreement: We need more ethics in the development of AI-based health technologies. But how do things look in practice for engineers and designers? Concrete solutions are still few and far between. In a joint pilot project with two Integrative Research Centers at TUM, the Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM) with its director, Prof. Sami Haddadin, and the Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS), with Prof. Ruth Müller, we want to try out the embedded ethics approach. We published the proposal in Nature Machine Intelligence at the end of July [2020].
What exactly is meant by the “embedded ethics approach”?
Prof.Buyx: The idea is to make ethics an integral part of the research process by integrating ethicists into the AI development team from day one. For example, they attend team meetings on a regular basis and create a sort of “ethical awareness” for certain issues. They also raise and analyze specific ethical and social issues.
Is there an example of this concept in practice?
Prof. Buyx: The Geriatronics Research Center, a flagship project of the MSRM in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is developing robot assistants to enable people to live independently in old age. The center’s initiatives will include the construction of model apartments designed to try out residential concepts where seniors share their living space with robots. At a joint meeting with the participating engineers, it was noted that the idea of using an open concept layout everywhere in the units – with few doors or individual rooms – would give the robots considerable range of motion. With the seniors, however, this living concept could prove upsetting because they are used to having private spaces. At the outset, the engineers had not given explicit consideration to this aspect.
Prof.Buyx: The approach sounds promising. But how can we avoid “embedded ethics” from turning into an “ethics washing” exercise, offering companies a comforting sense of “being on the safe side” when developing new AI technologies?
That’s not something we can be certain of avoiding. The key is mutual openness and a willingness to listen, with the goal of finding a common language – and subsequently being prepared to effectively implement the ethical aspects. At TUM we are ideally positioned to achieve this. Prof. Sami Haddadin, the director of the MSRM, is also a member of the EU High-Level Group of Artificial Intelligence. In his research, he is guided by the concept of human centered engineering. Consequently, he has supported the idea of embedded ethics from the very beginning. But one thing is certain: Embedded ethics alone will not suddenly make AI “turn ethical”. Ultimately, that will require laws, codes of conduct and possibly state incentives.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper espousing the embedded ethics for AI development approach,
An embedded ethics approach for AI development by Stuart McLennan, Amelia Fiske, Leo Anthony Celi, Ruth Müller, Jan Harder, Konstantin Ritt, Sami Haddadin & Alena Buyx. Nature Machine Intelligence (2020) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-020-0214-1 Published 31 July 2020
This paper is behind a paywall.
Religion, ethics and and AI
For some reason embedded ethics and AI got me to thinking about Pope Francis and other religious leaders.
The Roman Catholic Church and AI
There was a recent announcement that the Roman Catholic Church will be working with MicroSoft and IBM on AI and ethics (from a February 28, 2020 article by Jen Copestake for British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news online (Note: A link has been removed),
Leaders from the two tech giants met senior church officials in Rome, and agreed to collaborate on “human-centred” ways of designing AI.
Microsoft president Brad Smith admitted some people may “think of us as strange bedfellows” at the signing event.
“But I think the world needs people from different places to come together,” he said.
The call was supported by Pope Francis, in his first detailed remarks about the impact of artificial intelligence on humanity.
The Rome Call for Ethics [sic] was co-signed by Mr Smith, IBM executive vice-president John Kelly and president of the Pontifical Academy for Life Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.
It puts humans at the centre of new technologies, asking for AI to be designed with a focus on the good of the environment and “our common and shared home and of its human inhabitants”.
Framing the current era as a “renAIssance”, the speakers said the invention of artificial intelligence would be as significant to human development as the invention of the printing press or combustion engine.
UN Food and Agricultural Organization director Qu Dongyu and Italy’s technology minister Paola Pisano were also co-signatories.
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Hannah Brockhaus’s February 28, 2020 article for the Catholic News Agency provides some details missing from the BBC report and I found it quite helpful when trying to understand the various pieces that make up this initiative,
The Pontifical Academy for Life signed Friday [February 28, 2020], alongside presidents of IBM and Microsoft, a call for ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence technologies.
According to the document, “the sponsors of the call express their desire to work together, in this context and at a national and international level, to promote ‘algor-ethics.’”
“Algor-ethics,” according to the text, is the ethical use of artificial intelligence according to the principles of transparency, inclusion, responsibility, impartiality, reliability, security, and privacy.
The signing of the “Rome Call for AI Ethics [PDF]” took place as part of the 2020 assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which was held Feb. 26-28 [2020] on the theme of artificial intelligence.
One part of the assembly was dedicated to private meetings of the academics of the Pontifical Academy for Life. The second was a workshop on AI and ethics that drew 356 participants from 41 countries.
On the morning of Feb. 28 [2020], a public event took place called “renAIssance. For a Humanistic Artificial Intelligence” and included the signing of the AI document by Microsoft President Brad Smith, and IBM Executive Vice-president John Kelly III.
The Director General of FAO, Dongyu Qu, and politician Paola Pisano, representing the Italian government, also signed.
The president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, was also present Feb. 28.
Pope Francis canceled his scheduled appearance at the event due to feeling unwell. His prepared remarks were read by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Academy for Life.
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You can find Pope Francis’s comments about the document here (if you’re not comfortable reading Italian, hopefully, the English translation which follows directly afterward will be helpful). The Pope’s AI initiative has a dedicated website, Rome Call for AI ethics, and while most of the material dates from the February 2020 announcement, they are keeping up a blog. It has two entries, one dated in May 2020 and another in September 2020.
Buddhism and AI
The Dalai Lama is well known for having an interest in science and having hosted scientists for various dialogues. So, I was able to track down a November 10, 2016 article by Ariel Conn for the futureoflife.org website, which features his insights on the matter,
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The question of what it means and what it takes to feel needed is an important problem for ethicists and philosophers, but it may be just as important for AI researchers to consider. The Dalai Lama argues that lack of meaning and purpose in one’s work increases frustration and dissatisfaction among even those who are gainfully employed.
“The problem,” says the Dalai Lama, “is … the growing number of people who feel they are no longer useful, no longer needed, no longer one with their societies. … Feeling superfluous is a blow to the human spirit. It leads to social isolation and emotional pain, and creates the conditions for negative emotions to take root.”
If feeling needed and feeling useful are necessary for happiness, then AI researchers may face a conundrum. Many researchers hope that job loss due to artificial intelligence and automation could, in the end, provide people with more leisure time to pursue enjoyable activities. But if the key to happiness is feeling useful and needed, then a society without work could be just as emotionally challenging as today’s career-based societies, and possibly worse.
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I also found a talk on the topic by The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi, first here’s a description from his bio at the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values webspace on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) website,
… an innovative thinker, philosopher, educator and a polymath monk. He is Director of the Ethics Initiative at the MIT Media Lab and President & CEO of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Venerable Tenzin’s unusual background encompasses entering a Buddhist monastery at the age of ten and receiving graduate education at Harvard University with degrees ranging from Philosophy to Physics to International Relations. He is a Tribeca Disruptive Fellow and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Venerable Tenzin serves on the boards of a number of academic, humanitarian, and religious organizations. He is the recipient of several recognitions and awards and received Harvard’s Distinguished Alumni Honors for his visionary contributions to humanity.
He gave the 2018 Roger W. Heyns Lecture in Religion and Society at Stanford University on the topic, “Religious and Ethical Dimensions of Artificial Intelligence.” The video runs over one hour but he is a sprightly speaker (in comparison to other Buddhist speakers I’ve listened to over the years).
Judaism, Islam, and other Abrahamic faiths examine AI and ethics
New technologies are transforming our world every day, and the pace of change is only accelerating. In coming years, human beings will create machines capable of out-thinking us and potentially taking on such uniquely-human traits as empathy, ethical reasoning, perhaps even consciousness. This will have profound implications for virtually every human activity, as well as the meaning we impart to life and creation themselves. This conference will provide an introduction for non-specialists to Artificial Intelligence (AI):
What is it? What can it do and be used for? And what will be its implications for choice and free will; economics and worklife; surveillance economies and surveillance states; the changing nature of facts and truth; and the comparative intelligence and capabilities of humans and machines in the future?
Leading practitioners, ethicists and theologians will provide cross-disciplinary and cross-denominational perspectives on such challenges as technology addiction, inherent biases and resulting inequalities, the ethics of creating destructive technologies and of turning decision-making over to machines from self-driving cars to “autonomous weapons” systems in warfare, and how we should treat the suffering of “feeling” machines. The conference ultimately will address how we think about our place in the universe and what this means for both religious thought and theological institutions themselves.
UTS [Union Theological Seminary] is the oldest independent seminary in the United States and has long been known as a bastion of progressive Christian scholarship. JTS [Jewish Theological Seminary] is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Riverside Church is an interdenominational, interracial, international, open, welcoming, and affirming church and congregation that has served as a focal point of global and national activism for peace and social justice since its inception and continues to serve God through word and public witness. The annual Greater Good Gathering, the following week at Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs, focuses on how technology is changing society, politics and the economy – part of a growing nationwide effort to advance conversations promoting the “greater good.”
They have embedded a video of the event (it runs a little over seven hours) on the January 30, 2020 Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Ethics and Religionevent page. For anyone who finds that a daunting amount of information, you may want to check out the speaker list for ideas about who might be writing and thinking on this topic.
As for Islam, I did track down this November 29, 2018 article by Shahino Mah Abdullah, a fellow at the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia,
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As the global community continues to work together on the ethics of AI, there are still vast opportunities to offer ethical inputs, including the ethical principles based on Islamic teachings.
This is in line with Islam’s encouragement for its believers to convey beneficial messages, including to share its ethical principles with society.
In Islam, ethics or akhlak (virtuous character traits) in Arabic, is sometimes employed interchangeably in the Arabic language with adab, which means the manner, attitude, behaviour, and etiquette of putting things in their proper places. Islamic ethics cover all the legal concepts ranging from syariah (Islamic law), fiqh ( jurisprudence), qanun (ordinance), and ‘urf (customary practices).
Adopting and applying moral values based on the Islamic ethical concept or applied Islamic ethics could be a way to address various issues in today’s societies.
At the same time, this approach is in line with the higher objectives of syariah (maqasid alsyariah) that is aimed at conserving human benefit by the protection of human values, including faith (hifz al-din), life (hifz alnafs), lineage (hifz al-nasl), intellect (hifz al-‘aql), and property (hifz al-mal). This approach could be very helpful to address contemporary issues, including those related to the rise of AI and intelligent robots.
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Part of the difficulty with tracking down more about AI, ethics, and various religions is linguistic. I simply don’t have the language skills to search for the commentaries and, even in English, I may not have the best or most appropriate search terms.
Television (TV) episodes stored on DNA?
According to a Sept. 1, 2020 news item on Nanowerk, the first episode of a tv series, ‘Biohackers’ has been stored on synthetic DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) by a researcher at TUM and colleagues at another institution,
The first episode of the newly released series “Biohackers” was stored in the form of synthetic DNA. This was made possible by the research of Prof. Reinhard Heckel of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and his colleague Prof. Robert Grass of ETH Zürich.
They have developed a method that permits the stable storage of large quantities of data on DNA for over 1000 years.
Prof. Heckel, Biohackers is about a medical student seeking revenge on a professor with a dark past – and the manipulation of DNA with biotechnology tools. You were commissioned to store the series on DNA. How does that work?
First, I should mention that what we’re talking about is artificially generated – in other words, synthetic – DNA. DNA consists of four building blocks: the nucleotides adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C). Computer data, meanwhile, are coded as zeros and ones. The first episode of Biohackers consists of a sequence of around 600 million zeros and ones. To code the sequence 01 01 11 00 in DNA, for example, we decide which number combinations will correspond to which letters. For example: 00 is A, 01 is C, 10 is G and 11 is T. Our example then produces the DNA sequence CCTA. Using this principle of DNA data storage, we have stored the first episode of the series on DNA.
And to view the series – is it just a matter of “reverse translation” of the letters?
In a very simplified sense, you can visualize it like that. When writing, storing and reading the DNA, however, errors occur. If these errors are not corrected, the data stored on the DNA will be lost. To solve the problem, I have developed an algorithm based on channel coding. This method involves correcting errors that take place during information transfers. The underlying idea is to add redundancy to the data. Think of language: When we read or hear a word with missing or incorrect letters, the computing power of our brain is still capable of understanding the word. The algorithm follows the same principle: It encodes the data with sufficient redundancy to ensure that even highly inaccurate data can be restored later.
Channel coding is used in many fields, including in telecommunications. What challenges did you face when developing your solution?
The first challenge was to create an algorithm specifically geared to the errors that occur in DNA. The second one was to make the algorithm so efficient that the largest possible quantities of data can be stored on the smallest possible quantity of DNA, so that only the absolutely necessary amount of redundancy is added. We demonstrated that our algorithm is optimized in that sense.
DNA data storage is very expensive because of the complexity of DNA production as well as the reading process. What makes DNA an attractive storage medium despite these challenges?
First, DNA has a very high information density. This permits the storage of enormous data volumes in a minimal space. In the case of the TV series, we stored “only” 100 megabytes on a picogram – or a billionth of a gram of DNA. Theoretically, however, it would be possible to store up to 200 exabytes on one gram of DNA. And DNA lasts a long time. By comparison: If you never turned on your PC or wrote data to the hard disk it contains, the data would disappear after a couple of years. By contrast, DNA can remain stable for many thousands of years if it is packed right.
And the method you have developed also makes the DNA strands durable – practically indestructible.
My colleague Robert Grass was the first to develop a process for the “stable packing” of DNA strands by encapsulating them in nanometer-scale spheres made of silica glass. This ensures that the DNA is protected against mechanical influences. In a joint paper in 2015, we presented the first robust DNA data storage concept with our algorithm and the encapsulation process developed by Prof. Grass. Since then we have continuously improved our method. In our most recent publication in Nature Protocols of January 2020, we passed on what we have learned.
What are your next steps? Does data storage on DNA have a future?
We’re working on a way to make DNA data storage cheaper and faster. “Biohackers” was a milestone en route to commercialization. But we still have a long way to go. If this technology proves successful, big things will be possible. Entire libraries, all movies, photos, music and knowledge of every kind – provided it can be represented in the form of data – could be stored on DNA and would thus be available to humanity for eternity.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Reading and writing digital data in DNA by Linda C. Meiser, Philipp L. Antkowiak, Julian Koch, Weida D. Chen, A. Xavier Kohll, Wendelin J. Stark, Reinhard Heckel & Robert N. Grass. Nature Protocols volume 15, pages86–101(2020) Issue Date: January 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-019-0244-5 Published [online] 29 November 2019
