Risk and the discursive construction of quantum technologies in Australia: How geopolitical and economic threats are used in hyping emerging technologies

In this paper, we examine the role of hype in the discursive construction of emerging quantum technologies. Our findings reveal that, as these technologies transition from academia to industry, they are the object of ‘hyping’ in which the discourses of risk and responsibility figure prominently. We find that hype – a collective vision around which attention, excitement, and expectations escalate – emerges from a process of discursively constructing emerging technologies as risk management solutions to highly salient geopolitical and economic risks to state actors, while acknowledging that they may pose less salient, novel social risks to citizens and social groups within a state. We also find that the former construction overwhelms the latter, which has important implications for what actions associated with developing these emerging technologies are considered responsible. As a result, and building on the sociology of expectations, we develop a discursive model showing how hyping mobilizes risk and responsibility to shape the meanings attached to emerging technologies and, in turn, the expectations that form around them – with important implications for the direction and pace of technological development.