Quantum Computing & #BLM — An uncomfortable truth.
The need for diversity is not often spelled out in the scientific community.
This is true especially in the elite-tech industry and in areas of high level computational science & data analysis where deep learning is involved. This is a topic I’ve been thinking about & struggling to express for some time now and it is in this moment, with the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement willing, that this thought can now become expressed. For those that this directly speaks to: I hope you proceed with this idea internalized.
A Call To Industry Leaders, Researchers, & Data-Elite Who Are Undoubtedly Investing in Tomorrow’s Technology: For AI & Quantum Integration
Quantum computing, as those that are especially well-versed with the mathematics, physics, programming, or at heart the philosophy of quantum mechanics all know, will shift the very nature of the way we structure our civilization and function as a society at present.
We, in some ways, are the makers of the very blocks of foundational change in tomorrow’s world.
With this understanding, I plead to those involved in the industry that realize today’s social currents, to take a moment to integrate the scientific applications that have taken hours of research and investigation and instead of examining the quanta, apply the very same concept to the macro.
The well-known leaders of the determined classical computation movement were all white men and indeed that is the narrative that is propagated throughout not only Silicon Valley but also to the rest of the world. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, or Elon Musk have all become buzzword household names among the average educated minds of those privileged with modern day tools around the globe.
With the onset of a technological shift, we will be remiss as a society, as a human species, if we do not with it incorporate the social shift alongside it as well. This is not just the desired state, or something that we “should work towards to get better”… No. This is something that is necessary for quantum computing to have the ethically positive impact that it is meant to have on the world. In order for quantum computation to solve tomorrow’s problems, it must itself fix today’s issues within itself in order to arrive at the necessary “prepared state” for the measurements of a quantum-advantaged society to thrive. Otherwise, on a very deep level, it is all of no use and we will undoubtedly fail.
While there have been numerous, tireless efforts of STEM organizations for a call to inclusiveness such as with NSBE, SWE, SHPE that we have all heard if we were somewhat socially involved in undergrad engineering to passingly notice at university involvement fairs, this goes beyond just the discriminations of gender or American-minoritized populations. While the wonderful work of those groups are actively seeking to include the voices that are visibly outnumbered or non-present in the high-level closed door conversations of world influencers in our classical computation world, this simply cannot be the scenario in the quantum paradigm of tomorrow.
This necessarily means that world shifts need to occur (and are long-overdue) for multiculturalism & diversity to be apparent in the world of tomorrow. The decision-making industry needs to not only jump the hurdle of token-appointing the “first black/woman/gay/hispanic/asian/disabled/ socialist/capitalist/anarchist/ trans/public/private/child/elderly/insert-exceptional-discriminator-here” role model leader that necessarily needs to come to power. But afterwards also continue making this a pattern so that it becomes not an exception when minorities come into power, but instead a necessary probable outcome which should serve as astonishing if it doesn’t. The impact of the black lives matter movement is that this movement with clear statistical data on the bias involved in police brutality and in countless other areas of life, is signaling the disparity that we have occurring in the world at present.
Life, as especially those in the quantum industry should know, is not binary. Things are not simply yes or no, 0 or 1, right or wrong, black or white. And we end up in a statistically untrue reality the further we follow this type of thinking. There are levels, shades of grey, compounded effects and multiple versions involved in creating this prevailing Individual narrative for the Many.
For us all to truly be free…we must prevail in creating as many narratives for the Individual to become fully aware.
If you are involved in quantum computing or in the field of quantum research, ask yourself:
Look around your industry or your team colleagues. Are the majority of them white men? Is there diversity in thought, gender, ethnicity, orientation, age, socioeconomic upbringing, education, or culture in your field? Most importantly, are you aware of the impacts that this could lead to as you develop technology for the world? Have you inspected that perhaps this technology is not truly for the world? Is is this something that you question or accept?
If your answer is the expected criticism in STEM, we still have a long way to go.
This means we still have a deep social imperative to solve before we can change the world in a quantum-advantaged paradigm that can even hope to benefit humanity.
This means diversity. This means acknowledgment and proactive running strides towards inclusiveness in a world that we are clearly before us seeing polarize into just white or black. That is not what we need. We need diversity. We need incorporation and understanding and compassion and implementation of the Black Lives Matter movement.
““If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
— African proverb
To my friends in STEM fields: This is not just about George Floyd. This tragic event was a catalyst in a long enduring tension. If you are a privileged demographic, does this mean to stop what you’re doing and quit doing the fantastic research being conducted on scientific applications in quantum? Of course not. Rather, this means instead to use your voice as a call to communicate with minority demographics to rise up and grow to the mantle that is just as equally theirs. It is all of our world. If we are not using it to empower others before our own time here is over, the legacy that our humanity has the power to create will also become obsolete. And, just as naturally as the largest phenomena in quantum physics occurs, humanity too may be destined to decohere into the noise.
That is, unless we stand up & move forward on the path toward furthering diversity for the sake of the human race. I sincerely hope we do our best.
Shwetha Jayaraj is the co-founder and president of NYIT Manhattan’s Quantum Computing Club/Quantum Research Group. For more updates please visit: https://theqrg.org.
