What is quantum supremacy? What impact will quantum computers have on human civilization?

On October 24, 2019, Google released a 54-bit quantum computer, which is a bit like the computers that humans just developed in the early days, and should be considered a "baby". But it took only 200 seconds to complete a calculation task that would take the most powerful supercomputers 10,000 years to complete, proving the "terrifying" calculation speed of quantum computers!

This was a thunderclap that shocked the world. Experts and experts from all walks of life exclaimed: Humanity will enter a new era! Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of then-US President Trump, couldn't help but send a high-profile congratulatory message at the first time (pictured above).

Why are quantum computers so powerful?

The quantum computer released by Google looks a bit strange, like a pile of clanking scraps of copper and iron wrapped in a plastic bucket. Of course, you can also imagine it as a pile of gold and silver treasures wrapped tightly.

But it is not that simple. This movement (pictured below) has four layers of outer shells on the outside, which tightly wrap the quantum bits layer by layer. The purpose is to prevent the internal core components from being disturbed by the outside world. In order to ensure its operating efficiency, liquid helium is also filled inside to keep the quantum bits in an environment close to absolute zero.

In this way, a quantum computer is like a "Rain Man", which can only create miracles in an extremely quiet environment.

Humans use decimals for computing, while traditional computers use binary, which means 0 and 1, and a bit can only be in one specific state at a given moment, either 0 or 1. The computing methods and paths of quantum computers are completely different from those of traditional computers. 0 and 1 are calculated in parallel in a superposition state, so the speed will increase exponentially.

No wonder the price of Bitcoin, which is mined by computing power, plummeted as soon as the news of Google's quantum computer was released. Because there are only 21 million Bitcoins in total, one less Bitcoin is mined, and it becomes increasingly difficult to mine, the mining cost becomes higher and higher, and the price continues to soar.

To put it bluntly, the so-called "mining" of Bitcoin is to find the best way to crack the password through trial and error in computer-specific software. Quantum computers are masters of cracking passwords. According to relevant experts, it takes a traditional computer 600,000 years to crack the RSA password system, while a quantum computer only takes 3 hours.

If this kind of computer is used for "mining", with such a terrifying computing power, wouldn't it be possible to mine all the bitcoins that were originally scheduled to be mined by 2140 in just a few minutes? Therefore, a price reduction is inevitable. Fortunately, there were not many bitcoins left at that time, and its price was mainly due to speculation, so it rose sharply later.

Google claims that the advent of quantum computers is a "milestone towards quantum computing." The Google team predicts that quantum computing power will develop at a "double exponential rate" in the future, compared to the exponential rate of Moore's Law.

What does this mean? The calculation speed increases exponentially. The power is always 2, but the base is always the result of the previous level. For example, the value of the base 2 to the power of 2 is 4. The second base is 4, the power is still 2, and the result is 16. The third base is 16. And so on. Then there are 256, 65536, 4294967296, 18446744073709551616...

Isn’t this too scary?

Therefore, people call this milestone event "the proof of quantum supremacy". Under quantum supremacy, traditional computers will suffer a devastating dimensionality reduction blow. Any traditional supercomputer will no longer be worth mentioning in front of the baby of quantum computers, let alone further development.

So, everyone should remember this day, October 24, 2019. On this day, a small quantum butterfly gently flapped its wings on the other side of the ocean, and soon, it will bring a storm that will sweep the world and all mankind.

The development trend of quantum computers

Since the 21st century, everything has been moving towards digitalization. Everything is digital, that is, everything can be recorded, stored, reflected, copied, restored, manufactured, Internet, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, health and longevity, etc. through digital. As a result, computers and networks are becoming more and more important.

Improving computing speed has become the most important research topic for traditional computers. However, since traditional computers use binary macro algorithms, there is a ceiling for computing speed, and the more you increase it, the harder it is to do. Quantum computers use the superposition state of the uncertainty principle of the quantum world, and traditional computers cannot compare.

Why is this so? Some people use the Chinese fable "Yangzi Cried at a Forked Road" to explain it. This fable tells the story of a scholar named Yang Zhu in the Warring States Period. He cried every time he saw a forked road, because he didn't know which one was the right way to the destination, which made him feel lost and difficult to choose.

The way a traditional computer solves this kind of problem is to try one path first, and then another, and only know the answer after the two tests. Quantum computers do not use the method of exploring these "wrong paths" one by one, but instead scatter them like a god casting beans to create soldiers. Scouts are sent out to every path, and they will soon know which path is the correct one.

All technological creations and social management in human society are nothing more than solving the fork-path effect. There are many "fork-paths" (key issues) in all subjects and projects in all fields. If you take the right path, you can reach your destination quickly. The advent of traditional computers has put humans on the fast track of civilization development. Quantum computers will put human civilization on a faster development path.

Quantum computers are still just babies, but they have already defeated the most powerful traditional veterans by several hundred million times. This is too shocking. When it continues to grow up, its capabilities will be immeasurable.

Google is not the only one developing quantum computers. As early as January 8, 2019, IBM announced that it had successfully developed the world's first independent quantum computer, which would be open to external users and would launch a commercially available 53-qubit quantum computer as soon as possible.

This shows that quantum computers are no longer "rare animals" that are only used for research and viewing. China's quantum computer research has also made continuous breakthroughs. It is reported that the "Jiuzhang" quantum computer developed by the University of Science and Technology of China has a computing speed that is 10 billion times faster than Google, which can be said to be catching up.

What impact will human society have under quantum hegemony?

Because quantum computers first appeared on the other side of the ocean, some people regard quantum hegemony as American hegemony again. In fact, quantum hegemony does not mean whoever owns a quantum computer will have hegemony, but it means that the advent of quantum computers symbolizes the arrival of the quantum era.

In the future, quantum will rule everything, that is, quantum computers will enjoy supreme supremacy. Of course, whoever possesses the most advanced quantum computer technology will naturally have an important position in the field of science and technology.

What kind of impact will this have on human society? My view is that the impact will be huge, so huge that we ordinary people can't imagine it. However, the impact will not be apparent until about 10 years later. Many experts believe that the application prospects of quantum computers are both good and bad.

The happy side is:

Human civilization will enter a faster path. Compared with 1,000 years ago, the development of science and technology today is more than 1,000 years ago in one year; compared with 100 years ago, one year is more than 100 years. What about the future? Quantum computers will make the development of science and technology in one year exceed the 100 years since Einstein.

First, quantum computers will greatly promote the progress of all basic disciplines such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and genetics, and unravel the dark clouds that have increasingly shrouded basic theories in recent years, such as the strange effects of quantum mechanics, dark energy, the identity of dark matter, and the deciphering of genetic codes; secondly, major breakthroughs will continue to emerge in various fields, such as aviation, aerospace, energy, biology, medicine, health and longevity, informatization, and intelligence.

In the future, the biggest change is that more and more jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence, such as various manual labor, translation, reporter, training, cashier, assistant, security, driver, customer service, trader, etc. Professor Kaplan of Stanford University in the United States has done a statistics, in the near future, 47% of the 720 registered occupations in the United States will be replaced by artificial intelligence, and this proportion in China may exceed 70%.

What will the people whose jobs are replaced do? I think there will be more new jobs, just like the elimination of ancient carts and horse-drawn carriages. The descendants of these drivers did not lose their jobs, but took up more relaxed and respectable jobs. Moreover, in the future, humans will have more time for leisure and travel, and get more happiness and enjoyment.

The worrying side is:

Artificial intelligence combined with quantum computers may achieve a breakthrough improvement. Google scientist Kurzweil believes that by 2045, the creativity of artificial intelligence will reach its peak, exceeding the total intelligence of human beings today by 1 billion times. This is a terrible prophecy. Can humans still control it?

Many scientists and entrepreneurs have expressed concerns about this, worrying that humanity will ultimately be destroyed by artificial intelligence.

What should we do? Kurzweil said that humans must completely transform their genetic programming, discard genes that have not been used for the past thousand years, and sublimate life to a new operating system. This is also what I have said many times in the past. With the upgrading of scientific and technological civilization, the way humans exist must be upgraded in order to transition from low-level civilization to high-level civilization.

There are two directions for human upgrading. One is to implement the transformation combining artificial intelligence and genetic science to make humans superhuman. At this time, humans become cyborgs (half human and half machine); the second is to achieve consciousness, that is, uploading or transferring consciousness, existing in the form of consciousness, and achieving immortality.

Such humans combined with quantum computers will become superhumans, with much higher lifespan and IQ than current humans. Some people believe that in the future, unmodified "original" humans will be like a stink bug in front of superhumans, and no one will pity them even if they are washed down the sewer.

Will the world really be like this? Is this the world we all expect? I would like to end this article with Ren Zhengfei’s words:

The world will eventually move towards artificial intelligence. In the next 20 to 30 years, a huge revolution will surely break out among human beings. Everyone has seen the horror of this revolution. Ren Zhengfei also said: If genetic technology and electronic technology are integrated into one technology, what will the world become? I can't imagine it.

What do you think? Welcome to discuss, thanks for reading.

The copyright of Space-Time Communication is original. Infringement and plagiarism are unethical behavior. Please understand and cooperate.