From the Actual to the Possible: Generating Possibilities for Responsible Quantum Futures in the Making

Possibility is a key aspect of the ethics and governance of new and emerging science and technologies (NEST). Conceptual resources for engaging with the dynamics of possibility tend to be lacking in scholarly engagement with NEST, however. This contribution brings possibility studies and Responsible Innovation into dialogue to provide conceptual foundations that allow for engagement with the realities of technological innovation through a lens of possibility. Taking a generative approach to the possible, and with an emphasis on ethical engagement with the possible, the case of quantum technology development is mobilised to examine the affordances and constraints of possibility in (responsible) NEST development. Three challenges that are currently evident in spheres of quantum technology development are problematised, with an emphasis on generating the possibilities that may flow from them. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of tools and criteria that might be mobilised to ethically evaluate these possibilities.