Probabilistic Governmentality : Quantum Surveillance after Foucault and Deleuze
Abstract
Abstract Quantum surveillance marks an ontological shift in predictive control, dissolving the intentional subject into untraceable probabilistic profiles. Drawing from a Foucauldian-Deleuzian genealogy extended by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, this article analyzes the constitutive ethical fragilities of quantum architectures : NV-center sensors compromising physical intimacy, qubits rendering decisions physically opaque, and QKD networks eternalizing behavioral traces. Current prototypes reveal critical cumulative errors (1-2% per gate over 300+ operations) alongside a complete lack of operational deployment, yet they still legitimize preemptive policies. This philosophical crisis, where legal explainability collides with material opacity, demands an ontological reaffirmation of human intention against probabilistic optimization. Keywords quantum surveillance, predictive control, probabilistic governmentality, Heisenberg uncertainty, probabilistic profiling, computational opacity, NV centers, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), control societies, physical explicability, digital ethics
Fields of Study & Subjects
Foucault
Power
and Ethics
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Cybernetics and Technology in Society
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Publication date
- 5 February 2026