While Lumières’ legacy has been carrying hope of a universally better future through technical progress, development of technologies at industrial scales has induced both beneficial and problematic outcomes for society. Following the development of nuclear energy and mobile telephony, human activity demonstrated that transferring novel findings to industrial scales is double-sided: transforming people’s daily life does develop the economy, whereas keeping the focus on well-being, sustainability and on a desirable future appears more challenging.
In this debate, we will look at the ongoing revolution around quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, high performance computing, and try to raise awareness on their usage, along with ideally identifying benefits or limits these fields may bring to the evolution of humans and of the environment.
Paul Nguyen worked over 20 years in IT companies in France, holding positions in technical, consulting, and management roles. He is currently coach and trainer in professional integration, focusing on the impact of new technologies on these disciplines.
Thibault JY Derrien is a researcher at the FZU Institute of Physics (Czech Academy of Sciences), at the Lab. of Quantum Computing (Technical University of Ostrava). After living in Prague for ten years, he looks forward to further participation in the public life of the country.