# Humanity Is Inventing Technology Nature Never Used by Anton Zeilinger > “I am optimistic about the future of technology. Here too we have hardly scratched the surface. With quantum information technology, mankind for the first time is entering a field of technology which, by all we know today, has not been used by Nature in evolution. I am convinced that most of the technology of the future will be of that kind. New ideas will be created and new technologies will be invented which only could come into existence because we invented them. There is no other road to making them happen.” > **— Anton Zeilinger**, *2007, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Edge response](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10892) — Edge published this passage in its 2007 Annual Question collection, *WHAT ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT?*. - **Exact archived wording:** “I am optimistic about the future of technology. Here too we have hardly scratched the surface. With quantum information technology, mankind for the first time is entering a field of technology which, by all we know today, has not been used by Nature in evolution. I am convinced that most of the technology of the future will be of that kind. New ideas will be created and new technologies will be invented which only could come into existence because we invented them. There is no other road to making them happen.” - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2007 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2007 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/A History of Machine Intelligence|A History of Machine Intelligence]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Technology|Technology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Technology|Technology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “I am optimistic about the future of technology. Here too we have hardly scratched the surface. With quantum information technology, mankind for the first time is entering a field of technology which, by all we know today, has not been used by Nature in evolution. I am convinced that most of the technology of the future will be of that kind. New ideas will be created and new technologies will be invented which only could come into existence because we invented them. There is no other road to making them happen.” — Anton Zeilinger, 2007, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-anton-zeilinger-technology-nature-never-used ```