The next media epoch: AI, quantum computation and the future form(s) of media
Erik Gustafson · Explorations in Media Ecology · 2025
At present, artificial intelligence (AI) has been promoted as the next media epoch on the horizon. The probe to follow explored whether AI or the lesser-known development, quantum computation, will be the defining communication medium of the next era. Upon investigation of the structural characteristics of AI and quantum computation, the probe argued that while AI may be the ‘next big thing’ in communication technology, AI represents a development in pre-existing software not a fundamentally new form of media. Instead, it was argued that quantum computation represents a fundamentally new form of media hardware that will transform not only computing but also human’s ontological and epistemological orientations towards the physical world. Ultimately, this article urged scholars to turn their attention to the burgeoning field of quantum computation as they seek to predict and control the rapidly transforming global media environment.