What are Quantum Computers?
Today our normal computers are incredibly strong and they can solve a vast amount of problems. But, with the power of a quantum computer, we can solve some of the world’s biggest problems hundreds of times faster than classical computers. Normal computers today use “bits” of information, which can exist in only two states: either 1 or 0, true or false, on or off. Quantum computers use quantum bits, or “qubits,” which can exist as both 1 and 0 simultaneously. Qubits can also be in two places at once using the property of superposition which greatly increases the efficiency of the computational speed. Also, researchers can use the property of entanglement when creating qubits to make certain molecules “entangled” so that different pairs of molecules exist in the same quantum state. This means that if you change one of the entangled molecules, you can expect the same change to happen in the other molecule. Companies are racing to build these high power devices but how ethically good or bad will they really be?
Pros of Quantum Computing
Quantum Computers will certainly revolutionize our world. Our current techniques will become history after quantum computers solve mathematical problems that were not solvable before. If we solve these previously unapproachable problems, new solutions are sure to arise.
For example, quantum computing will revolutionize the drug industry and could potentially find cures to a virus faster. With a Quantum Computer, scientists would have the processing capabilities to simulate a virus as well as the virus’s impact after it is exposed to a drug. When we use quantum computing to simulate molecules, we can find exactly where the electrons sit, how the energy flows in the virus and we can predict its behavior. Therefore, we can screen molecular functions and see how drug molecules react with the virus to develop drugs and vaccines. Using quantum computing makes this process quick and more efficient than classical computers. This process can even be done in days so we can develop drugs and vaccines for the many different strains of the virus.
Another industry that Quantum Computers will revolutionize is weather forecasting. Nearly $6 trillion in the USA is directly or indirectly affected by weather, impacting food production, transportation, and retail trade, among others. Every year there are hundreds of storms, hurricanes, and tornados that take lives and money from people around the world. With the power of a quantum computer, we could bring these numbers down exponentially. Using a Quantum Computer, meteorologists could analyze huge amounts of data with different variables much faster and improve the speed and efficiency of weather forecasting by finding patterns in data at a much higher rate. Even with the world’s fastest supercomputers, sometimes it takes too long to predict accurate forecasts. Quantum computers are great at handling huge amounts of information, statistics, and data to finding patterns in them. With a Quantum Computer people around the world will save trillions of dollars and not to mention, have more time to run from disasters.
Cons of Quantum Computing
Right now your online privacy while reading this article is being kept secure by encryption and can only be unlocked by a secret “key” of sorts. This “key” is actually just a huge number (100+ digits) that has been factored into two prime numbers. This system is the basis of RSA which is a widely used encryption algorithm to protect bank information, online shopping, passwords, emails, and much more important information on your life. Even with the world’s fastest supercomputers, it would normally take hackers hundreds of years to find this information, but in the near future hackers may be able to do this within hours with the power of a quantum computer. As I talked about above, Quantum Computers thrive when they need to process large amounts of data, so when they are tasked with performing huge calculations, they are exponentially faster than classical computers. They may destroy the encryption that currently protects our data, online banking records, personal documents on our computers, and much more.
Conclusion
In the end, we won’t know the impact of Quantum Computers until they happen. Experts say that quantum computers won’t take over classical computers but will just be in the “background.’’ So for now let’s hope that quantum computers are only used for complex calculations that will lead to possible breakthroughs and not for any evil uses.
