01 December 2025
The Digital Futures of Quantum event brought together experts in academia, policy and art to explore how quantum will change the world in which we live.
On 19 November, the Digital Futures Institute and Science Gallery London hosted The Big Question: What does quantum mean for humanity?, a Quantum Untangled event that brought together leading voices from academia, government and the arts to illuminate the fast-evolving landscape of quantum science and its impact on society, culture and technology.
The event, chaired by Professor Kate Devlin, Director of the Digital Futures Institute, featured Professor James Millen, Professor of Physics and Director of King’s Quantum, Faiyaz Amin, Policy Lead at the Office for Quantum within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Dr Libby Heaney, the first artist to work with quantum computing as a functioning artistic medium, and quantum physicist by training.
Physicist Professor James Millen, Director of King’s Quantum, pushed back against the idea that quantum science is solely about tiny particles. Instead, he described it as fundamental to the entire universe, including technology already in daily use.
Everything is quantum. Everything is built out of quantum particles. Everything’s atoms, and electrons, and photons.
Professor James Millen, Professor of Physics, Director of King’s Quantum
He explained that while quantum effects manifest most dramatically at microscopic scales, they underpin major natural processes: ‘When you use quantum mechanics to describe very small things, you predict some very unusual behaviour, and we have no other way of describing those things… Even though these aspects of quantum mechanics only manifest at this tiny scale, it has very macroscopic consequences. You would not call the sun a quantum object, but it works using quantum mechanics.’
Artist and quantum physicist Dr Libby Heaney, the first artist to work with quantum computing as a functional medium and quantum physicist by training, spoke about the potential of quantum concepts to shift how we think about society, identity and interconnectedness.
I am using quantum as a medium, but also as a prism through which to reimagine different systems in the world around us. It is a very different set of things that you can imagine through quantum because it’s seemingly counterintuitive to our classical Newtonian brains.
Dr Libby Heaney, award winning artist and quantum physicist
Heaney described her art as a way to help the public feel quantum concepts, noting that quantum aesthetics often emerge as ‘layered, blurry, shapeshifting’ experiences that disrupt familiar patterns of perception.
‘There is more to reality than just our intellect, and I think quantum really helps us tap into these things,’ she said.
Faiyaz Amin, Policy Lead at the Office for Quantum within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, outlined the UK’s long‑term investment in quantum innovation and its global competitiveness. The National Quantum Technologies Programme, set up in 2014, was the first programme of its kind in the world and the first nationally coordinated effort to build up a quantum ecosystem in the UK.
‘We recognise the potential and the transformative impact that these technologies will have, so we’ve made some very significant bets from 2014. More recently, we’ve been seeing a significant uptick of investments being made by a number of different countries all around the world,’ said Faiyaz Amin.
With quantum, we are very much reaching an inflection point in terms of where the technology is and what it can do. It’s comparable to what the AI sector was like maybe 10 years ago, […] where we have an enormous early lead, but we are very keen that we need to make an internationally competitive offer to retain some of the strengths that we've built up, and many other countries are feeling the same.
Faiyaz Amin, Policy Lead at the Office for Quantum, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Faiyaz Amin outlined three major areas of interest: quantum computing for specialised high-efficiency problem‑solving, quantum sensors with applications in health, infrastructure, and security, and quantum communications technologies, aimed at enabling a future “quantum internet”.
He affirmed the strategic importance of continued support for the sector, stating: ‘The government is committed to making sure the sector gets the support that it needs.’
Watch the recording here.
Through interactive artworks, immersive sculptural installations and the words of physicists, philosophers and poets, Science Gallery London’s new exhibition Quantum Untangled fuses art, science and extraordinary interdisciplinary research together to consider big quantum questions and reveal the power quantum possesses to transform our futures.
The exhibition is part of a free season including Friday Lates and a panel discussion in collaboration with King’s College London’s Digital Futures Institute.
Due to popular demand, Quantum Untangled has been extended and will run until 28 March. Alongside the exhibition at Science Gallery, the public programme will feature additional events that showcase and explore the potential of quantum ideas and technologies for the creative industries.
Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Society
Professor of Physics
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