Technology is like a river. Always moving forward, never stopping. Since the discovery of the fire and the invention of wheel, we have made a lot of progress as a species. We have come a long way on the road of self advancement and yet we are just getting started.
One of the most influential technologies that has helped us reach our current status is computing. Computers have become an integral part of our lives. We have them in our homes, our offices, and even in the palm of our hands.
They help us do the smallest of things as well as the biggest. And every year, computers only get faster and faster, but so do our computing needs. And with breakthrough technologies looming on the horizon, we are going to need a huge amount of computing power.
Traditional computers, i.e. the ones we use today, may not be able to serve our needs in the future as the demand for computing power will outdo the technological advancement. Therefore, scientists have begun thinking outside the box and looking for alternatives, many of which are already in the testing phase. But the most ambitious project right now is the Quantum Computer.
Quantum Computer
What’s better than a computer? The answer is, a computer that is 100 million times faster. Yes, you read that right. That, is the potential that quantum computers have if we manage to get there. Just think what we could achieve with all that computing power.
The quantum computer is going to kickstart the next era of our computing prowess, one which has the potential to make everything else obsolete. It is a highly sophisticated field with some of the most brilliant people working on it.
General purpose quantum computer is not a reality yet, not by a long shot, but we are getting closer and closer everyday. The largest tech companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM have speculated that we may have them within the next 10 years.
So, what exactly is a quantum computer? For that, we need to first understand what a traditional computer is. Basically, the computers of today are binary system computers. That means, whatever we do on them, get translated to 1s and 0s. That is how a computer ‘understands’ and calculates and gives out the desired input. Even the letters you type, get converted to binary digits before they appear on the screen.
This approach has worked for us till now but there is a better way of doing things and that is what a quantum computer promises.
In the most basic terms, a quantum computer is a system that is not limited to only 1 state of value, i.e. 1 or 0. Instead, it can hold the value of 1, 0 and both at the same time, which is called a superposition. It might not sound of any consequence at all but that is where the magic really lies. This seemingly “small difference”, allows a quantum computer to be millions of times faster than today’s computers.
How Quantum Computers Will Change Your Lives?
The exact workings of a quantum computer is too technical which delves into physics, and mathematical algorithms and computer science. So, I am not going to discuss that here. What I am going to discuss is what really interests us common folk, and that is how this will make our lives easier. Convenience before all, right?
So let’s look at some of the ways the quantum computer will change our lives for the better.
1. Quantum Communication
Quantum Communication will allow for safe, encrypted communication between two parties. Since the information being shared can be in any number of infinite state, it would be almost impossible to eavesdrop and extract information out of it. More so, if someone does try to eavesdrop, both parties will know about it instantly!
This has massive use case scenarios from everyday use to military applications to space communication. This will provide a way to truly secure all communications containing confidential information which could be misused by some people.
2. Quantum Cryptography
The very nature of quantum computing is ideal for the development of a highly secure systems that are untouchable by outside forces. Encryption is used every where today, from social media sites to banks to databases.
Today the encryption used, though good is crackable. But quantum computing provides an encrypting method so robust that it would be almost impossible to crack it.
Since every qubit can be in any number of infinite state, it is very, very hard to discern the information contained in a system and to gain access to it!
3. Safer Airplanes
Airplanes go through rigorous testing and simulations before being commercialised. Right now the traditional computers have limited the complexity of simulations that can be performed and the variables used. Quantum computers are much faster and therefore much more intensive testing can be carried out, thus resulting in safer planes.
In fact Lockheed Martin is planning to use Google’s D-Wave quantum computer (more on this later), to achieve just that.
4. Accurate Weather Forecasts
Stephen Hawking, one of the smartest people on the planet, once said in a lecture that, if we knew the state and position of all the particles in the atmosphere, we would be able to forecast the weather with 100% certainty.
Of course till now, classical computers simply don’t have the nearest chance of doing that, but, a quantum computer with its 100 million times faster speed or even greater in future generations, could get close to achieving this feat.
Most certainly even a quantum computer won’t be able to know the position of every particle in the atmosphere but it will certainly enhance our weather forecasting skills to a high degree of accuracy.
This has huge implications as this may save a lot of lives by predicting tornadoes, tsunamis and other calamities in advance giving us enough time to prepare.
5. Artificial Intelligence
This is one area which will highly benefited by quantum computing so much so that the technology could literally advance by leaps and bounds. A truly general purpose artificial intelligence which would be capable of making autonomous decisions and applying logic and even intuition would require a huge amount of processing power which only a quantum computer would be able to provide.
AI will be as common in the future as are smartphones today and quantum computers will have a big hand in making that possible.
6. Self Driving Vehicles
In the future almost all the vehicles will be driverless. They will be interconnected and real time data will be available to everyone. That accounts for a large number of information that even super computers of today wouldn’t be able to handle.
This is where quantum computers shine. They can process these huge amounts of data without breaking sweat. This will lead to efficient, effective, smooth and a safe system of interconnected global driverless car systems.
7. Medical Field
Using complex computer models, researchers can learn how different diseases develop. Using this information cures to several incurable diseases like cancer, AIDS can be discovered.
Also diagnostics will become way faster. A quantum computer will be able to come up with relevant answers based on the symptoms shown by a patient. It will achieve that by running several possible models based on the set of symptoms and coming up with possible diagnosis assigning probabilities to each. As the symptoms progress, the diagnosis becomes even clearer and a final answer can be reached much faster than today.
Also, more effective drugs could be developed using all that computing power, essentially adding cures to our arsenal in the fight against diseases.
Gene Sequencing will be an other area where the muscles of quantum computing will be highly effective.
Important Projects in Quantum Computing
1. Google’s D-Wave 2X
Google has been running a quantum computing project in conjunction with NASA and D-Wave Systems seeking to develop commercial quantum computers.
On August 20, 2015, the D-Wave 2X was released for general availability. Google claims that it is a functional quantum computer that is 100 million times faster than a traditional computer.
Google is planning to develop this further so that one day everyone can have their own quantum computer. Also, plans are being developed to leverage the power of the computer to build a general purpose AI.
2. IBM’s 5 Qubits Quantum Computer
IBM has been running its own quantum computing project and has managed to build one with 5 qubits (quantum bits). And surprisingly, it is allowing the general public access to its computer via the cloud.
Image Credits: IBM
That means, anyone can use the enormous processing speed to conduct their own researches and run their own simulations. The goal is to unwrap the mystery towards quantum computers and let the people be aware of the concepts and workings of the computer.