In a new episode of Decoded, CNN’s Anna Stewart explores how quantum computers could advance our future.
Quantum computers are radically different to modern computers, such as laptops, as they use quantum bits – or qubits –which can embody 0 and 1, to varying degrees, at the same time. Modern computers’ bits can either be 1 or 0 only, limiting its capabilities. Stewart delves into how these advancements could impact the world.
Dag Spicer, Senior Curator for the Computer History Museum explains, “When you’re trying to find solutions to problems that have many variables, quantum computers are excellent for disentangling the complexity and providing a solution.” As qubits can embody any combination of 0s and 1s, this allows the computer to perform many calculations at the same time. This suggests the potential for a future with personalised medicine, fertilisers that don’t emit CO2, efficient flights that take into consideration distance, weather patterns, aircraft availability and airport traffic, and much more.
Hartmut Neven, the VP of Quantum AI Engineering at Google elaborates on this, saying, “We will have a novel way of computing that will be helpful for millions of people, such as designing new drugs for diseases we have never seen, or fusion reactors that could help us addressing climate change or better batteries for electric cars.” Neven is a computer vision pioneer. After spearheading Google’s image search, he founded the company’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence lab. Within the next 12 months, Neven expects to see, “First quantum algorithms that do useful things, but can only be run on a quantum computer,” with the next big milestone being, “To show that we can put this in norms, compute power to use for things people care for.”
Stewart visits IBM’s research centre to get a hands-on understanding of quantum computing. IBM was a 20th century powerhouse – inventing much of the tech that shaped computers today. Recently, the company suffered a decade-long slump – but now, it is a driving force in the quantum computing sector. Vice President of IBM Quantum, Jay Gambetta, talks about the future of computing, “Most people don’t understand classical computers but if you really wanted to create innovation, I don’t think you need to understand the details in here. You got to understand how to program it and how the algorithms work. And that’s what I’m excited about seeing.”
Despite the hype around quantum, Michele Mosca, co-founder of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo discusses the reality of its capabilities, “Some people think it’s this magic box, you can ask it anything and it will just solve all these unsolvable problems. It’s not. It’s really only good at very specific kinds of computational tasks. And the other misconception is where the technological readiness is, we’ve come a long, long way, but there’s still a long, long way to go to fully capture the potential.”
For all of quantum’s promising applications – there are fears of a ‘Q-Day’ – the day when quantum computers essentially break the internet – by cracking every password that secures information online. Peter Shor, Professor of Applied Mathematics at MIT, and the man who devised a quantum algorithm that could make Q-day a reality, explains his take on the threat, “What’s likely to happen is that the first person to have a quantum computer will either be IBM, who is not going to go around breaking other people’s code. Or it might be the US government or the Chinese government. So, I don’t think the average person needs to worry – although the spy agencies definitely do.”
Stewart ends with a more hopeful look into the life-changing impacts of quantum computing, including how it might improve surgical outcomes for epilepsy patients.
