Google has long dominated search but soon they may be the dominant force when it comes to all matters of computing. That is if we are to believe their claim that they have achieved “quantum supremacy”, a self-proclaimed status tied to the fact that they were allegedly able to complete a calculation so vast, and so complex, that it only could have possibly been solved by a quantum computer.
As The Verge puts it, “Google’s quantum computer was reportedly able to solve a calculation — proving the randomness of numbers produced by a random number generator — in 3 minutes and 20 seconds that would take the world’s fastest traditional supercomputer, Summit, around 10,000 years. This effectively means that the calculation cannot be performed by a traditional computer, making Google the first to demonstrate quantum supremacy.”
For those who were already wary of Google and their intentions to begin with the phrase “quantum supremacy” may sound a little bit scary. After all, what could a company that already tracks everything we buy, every place we visit, and everything we search for do with such a supremacy? Certainly deliver us search results in a fraction of a section. Before we’re even aware that we want them. But aside from predictive search what else could Google do with extremely advanced computing power that far exceeds what anyone else can do?!
Encryption comes to mind. Essentially making passwords irrelevant. Fields that rely on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning could improve by leaps and bounds as well. At an even greater rate of exponential growth than we currently experience.
According to the Verge, “Google expects the power of quantum computers to expand at a “double exponential rate,” whereas traditional computers have long been pegged to Moore’s Law, which saw power double every 18 months or so.”
And that for me is the biggest take-away here. For as scary as quantum supremacy sounds realizing that we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what quantum computers can do is the really scary thought.
What do you think about Google’s quantum supremacy?
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