Abstract

Quantum technologies are increasingly framed as dual-use, raising concerns about civilian benefits alongside potential military and security applications. This paper examines how dual-use quantum technologies are communicatively constructed across four functionally differentiated domains: science, politics, the military, and business. Rather than treating dual-use as an inherent property of technology, we conceptualize it as a communicative category through which uncertainty, responsibility, and future expectations are negotiated. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, we analyze a qualitative corpus of scientific publications, policy documents, military strategy reports, and business communications. We show that shared terms such as dual-use, security, and quantum advantage circulate across domains but acquire distinct meanings as they are re-embedded within domain-specific communicative codes. These translations generate both resonance and dissonance, producing structured misalignment rather than convergence. The paper contributes to our understanding of dual-use quantum technologies by reconstructing domain-specific articulations of dual-use, explaining their divergence through functional differentiation, and highlighting implications for responsibility, authority, and governance.

https://doi.org/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-026-00533-8