Scientists attack term ‘quantum supremacy’

THE term “quantum supremacy”, to refer to the moment where quantum computers outperform classical machines, is a racist and colonialist term, scientists have argued, sparking a heated row in academia.

In the latest edition of the journal Nature, a group of 16 scientists, including academics from Cambridge, Oxford and Bristol universities, said the term “supremacy” risked increasing divisions of race, class and gender.

“In our view, ‘supremacy’ has overtones of violence, neocolonialism and racism through its association with ‘white supremacy’,” they wrote, and called for the term to be replaced by “quantum advantage”.

They also argued that “inherently violent” language had crept into other branches of science such as moving to new worlds, where terms such as conquest, colonisation and settlement are regularly used.

But academics and commentators responded to the letter with derision, arguing it should never have been published and claiming it was provocative.

Vincent Walsh, professor of human brain research, wrote on Twitter: “Jerk letter in Nature showing what happens when you try too hard. Next week, an essay on why ‘Kin Selection’ theory has anti-semitic overtones and should be renamed ‘Kin Preference’.”

Quantum computing represents such a leap forward because it frees machines from their binary coding. While computer bits can only operate as “0” or “1”, quantum bits (qubits) can exist in multiple states.