Charles Ma
Last Name
Ma
First name
Charles
Email
charles.ma@unisg.ch
11 results
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Item type:Publication, Narratives on quantum technologies: a cross-domain analysis of media, business, and policy discourses(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2025-12-23); ; ; Narratives shape public perceptions and policymaking around emerging technologies like quantum technologies (QTs), yet what narratives develop across different societal domains remains underexplored. This study analyzes narratives about QTs in 36 government documents, 163 business reports, and 2023 media articles published over the past 23 years, using a mixed-methods approach that combines topic modeling with qualitative thematic analysis. We find that the dystopian or utopian extremes associated with technologies such as artificial intelligence are largely absent from discourse about QTs. Media coverage tends to cover a broad range of topics, while business and government narratives emphasize technical milestones, economic competitiveness, and national security, frequently at the expense of questions about ethics, equity, and accessibility. We discuss the implications of this focus, particularly the risk that an emphasis on zero-sum geopolitical competition could foster a more closed and fragmented innovation ecosystem. Policy Significance Statement This study equips policymakers and industry leaders with evidence-based insights into the narratives that shape public perceptions of quantum technologies. An analysis of 2200+ documents reveals that while technical narratives dominate, geopolitical concerns are gaining ground, often at the expense of ethical considerations, especially in business and policy discourse. Unlike polarized debates on AI, quantum discourse remains cautiously optimistic but risks fostering innovation silos via "quantum race" framing. Our findings inform policy by (1) identifying governance gaps in current national quantum strategies, (2) demonstrating the need for inclusive innovation frameworks that address accessibility and equality, and (3) providing a replicable methodology for monitoring technology narratives across domains.Type:journal articleJournal:Data & PolicyVolume:8Scopus© Citations 2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Quantum technologies and geopolitics: comparing parliamentary rhetoric(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-12-09); ; ; Quantum technologies are rapidly emerging as a strategic priority for global political powers. Yet little is known about how policymakers across countries perceive the security implications of quantum technologies, even though such perceptions shape policy priorities and public understanding of technological threats. Drawing on securitization theory, we analyze parliamentary speeches from 2010 to 2024 across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, and Singapore. Using computational social science tools, including a novel method based on large language models to quantify security emphasis, we report on three principal findings. First, attention and security framing vary markedly across legislatures, with the United States showing the highest intensity, the United Kingdom a moderate pattern, and Australia comparatively muted security rhetoric despite frequent discussion. Second, security emphasis rises over time in every parliament studied. Third, highly securitized debates cluster around the topics of transitions to quantum-secure communication infrastructures, great-power competition and alliances (including AUKUS), and the regulation of cross-border capital, knowledge, and technology flows. The study contributes cross-national, longitudinal evidence on how quantum technologies are politicized.Type:journal articleJournal:EPJ Quantum TechnologyScopus© Citations 2 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, When Politicians Talk AI: Issue‐Frames in Parliamentary Debates Before and After ChatGPTArtificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognized as a crucial issue in political discourse, yet comparative research on how political perspectives on AI vary across countries, particularly following ChatGPT's public debut, remains limited. This paper presents a cross-national analysis of AI framing in parliamentary debates, exploring their evolution from 2014 to 2024 in the US Congress, EU Parliament, Parliament of Singapore, and Swiss Federal Assembly. Grounded in framing theory and insights from comparative political economy, we assemble a novel data set of parliamentary speech transcripts and employ a mixed-methods approach, combining natural language processing with qualitative content analysis, to identify framing patterns. Our findings reveal a steep surge in AI discussions across all legislatures after ChatGPT's 2022 release, propelled predominantly by ethics and regulation concerns. We also identify distinct national priorities: the US emphasizes defense, Singapore links AI to economic innovation and workforce development, the EU focuses on ethical governance, and Switzerland shows limited but regulation-centric engagement. These divergences highlight how distinct national and geopolitical priorities shape local AI policy debates. We conclude with a discussion of implications for framing research amid technological disruption.Type:journal articleJournal:Policy & InternetVolume:17Issue:3Scopus© Citations 11 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Evaluating Silicon Sampling: LLM Accuracy in Simulating Public Opinion on Facial Recognition TechnologyLarge Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in mimicking human behaviors, leading to growing interest in their potential for survey research through “silicon sampling”, a method where LLMs generate responses when prompted with personas. This study evaluates the effectiveness of silicon sampling in emerging technology acceptance by simulating public opinion on facial recognition technology (FRT). I compare LLM-generated responses against actual survey data from 6,076 respondents across China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. I test three LLMs (GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and DeepSeek V3) under three prompting conditions: demographic information only, contextual information only, and a combination of both. Performance was assessed using Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Quadratic Weighted Cohen’s Kappa (QWK) metrics. Results demonstrate that demographic-only prompting yields poor simulation accuracy (MAE: 0.90-1.73; QWK: near zero), while incorporating contextual information about FRT experiences and perceptions significantly improves performance. The optimal approach combining demographics with contextual information achieved QWK scores of 0.40-0.45, indicating moderate agreement with human responses. While silicon sampling cannot precisely replicate individual-level survey responses, the findings suggest it holds promise as a complementary tool for survey research, particularly in early research stages. This study provides practical guidance for researchers employing LLMs in surveys and highlights the importance of contextually relevant prompts for effective silicon sampling.Type:conference paperJournal:AHFE International Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET 2025)Volume:-5 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Decoding Policy Narratives: A Topic Modeling Approach to National Quantum Technology Strategies(2025-01-06); ; ; ; Lea SteinackerQuantum technology (QT) is potentially crucial for future technological and economic progress. However, we do not know much about the specific narratives and topics in national QT policies, despite their importance in shaping quantum approaches and progress around the world and in ensuring responsible development. We address this issue from the perspective of narrative policy analysis combined with computational topic modeling. Our research investigates policy documents from 23 countries, which we analyze using BERTopic modeling and the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF). The results show that national QT policies focus primarily on technological leadership for security and economic prosperity, assessing technological readiness, and, to a lesser extent, commercialization and societal impacts. We discuss the broader implications of these findings for guiding policy makers, researchers and stakeholders in aligning QT developments with societal needs and fostering international collaboration.Type:conference paperJournal:Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, When Politicians Talk AI: Issue Frames in Parliamentary Debates Before and After ChatGPT(2025-06-13); ; ; Artificial intelligence is increasingly recognized as a crucial issue in political discourse, yet there is limited comparative research on how political perspectives on AI differ across countries, particularly in the wake of ChatGPT’s public release. This paper presents a cross-national analysis of how AI is framed in parliamentary debates, examining how discussions have evolved from 2014 to 2024 in the United States, the European Union, Singapore, and Switzerland. We collect a novel dataset of official parliamentary speech transcripts and employ a mixed-methods approach that combines natural language processing techniques with qualitative analysis to identify and compare framing patterns. Our findings show not only a considerable increase in attention to AI in all four regions, particularly with respect to ethics and regulation following the release of ChatGPT, but also distinct framing patterns that reflect country-specific AI priorities and governance approaches. This analysis offers insights into the global dynamics of AI policy discourse, highlighting common trends as well as divergent approaches, which are shaped by local contexts across different political systems.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, An integrated view of Quantum Technology? Mapping Media, Business, and Policy Narratives(2025-01-06); ; ; ; Lea SteinackerNarratives play a vital role in shaping public perceptions and policy on emerging technologies like quantum technology (QT). However, little is known about the construction and variation of QT narratives across societal domains. This study examines how QT is presented in business, media, and government texts using thematic narrative analysis. Our research design utilizes an extensive dataset of 36 government documents, 165 business reports, and 2,331 media articles published over 20 years. We employ a computational social science approach, combining BERTopic modeling with qualitative assessment to extract themes and narratives. The findings show that public discourse on QT reflects prevailing social and political agendas, focusing on technical and commercial potential, global conflicts, national strategies, and social issues. Media articles provide the most balanced coverage, while business and government discourses often overlook societal implications. We discuss the ramifications for integrating QT into society and the need for well-informed public discourse.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Narratives from Commercial, Business-Focused, Industrial Reports and Articles on Quantum Technology(2024); ; - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Setting the Quantum Agenda: How international Media shapes the Narratives of Quantum Technology Narratives of Quantum Technology(2024-12-18); ; ; ; Lea SteinackerNews coverage can influence public perception and adoption of technologies. To investigate how media covers quantum technology, an emerging technology of the 21st century, we analyzed 2,331 news articles from the US, UK, China, and India – nations at the forefront of this industry. Using BERTopic modeling and sentiment analysis, we identified six narratives containing 54 topics. Overall, news focused on quantum computing, while other technological aspects like quantum cryptography were less prevalent. Over time, a notable shift from a societal and scientific discourse to political and economic discussions was observed. This development emphasizes narratives about national strategies, commercialization, and global politics and competition, highlighting the growing rivalry, especially between the US and China. Moreover, regional sentiments varied, with more positive news coverage in Chinese and Indian media compared to the Western counterparts. These insights are vital for stakeholders directing the future of quantum technologies.Type:conference paperJournal:International Conference on Information Systems - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Exploring Public Discourse on Quantum Technology: Overlooking Societal Implications?(2024-09-18); ; ; ; Lea SteinackerType:conference contributionJournal:IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering 2024