This article is originally published by AI Frontier. The original link is dwz.cn/77ZSBB
By Mark Melin & Will Knight
The translator | Debra
Edit | Emily
Will ARTIFICIAL Intelligence and machine learning revolutionize human society? Let’s not talk about it anymore, because quantum computing looks like an amateur.”
Quantum computing: Revolutionary Applications of cryptography, Bitcoin and hacking
Quantum computing, based on physics and using a different architecture, is not only faster, but can also perform more complex renderings and produce more nuanced results. Unlike ordinary computers, which store information as ones or zeros, quantum computers use quantum entanglement and superposition to process information in a different way.
Quantum computing, for example, can not only generate binary output, but also perform more qualitative analysis. It can provide multiple answers to the same problem, for example, by assigning probabilities to different outcomes rather than offering a single solution.
In addition, quantum computing has dramatically accelerated the application of artificial intelligence, including machine learning. The potential to build an entirely new infrastructure is an important reason behind the interest of many tech giants such as Microsoft and Google in investing in long-term quantum computing projects. Quantum computing allows previously impractical calculations and computer thinking to perform more calculations simultaneously than “the number of atoms in the observable universe.”
In quantum computing, each binary is unique, self-contained, and encoded. Currently, numerical calculations can only be performed in two states, on/off or/no.
Because quantum computing could be a “game changer” for advanced cryptography, Bernstein says, Alan Turing finally found a worthy partner in solving previously unsolvable problems.
Although bitcoin is not specifically mentioned in the report, as an example of the new architecture’s power, such cryptographic puzzles can be solved in a short time with today’s digital computers. For those working in digital security, it’s also important to understand the fact that quantum computing can be used to crack mathematically based digital security protocols.
Bernstein’s report focuses on the positive aspects of quantum computing for society, such as its ability to help identify cancer lesions and the discovery of Earth-like planets through data collected by telescopes and deep space applications.
As quantum computing advances, the impact of ARTIFICIAL intelligence and machine learning on changing the technology landscape will become more apparent, but who will benefit and how to achieve this goal may make it difficult to secure investment in this area.
Quantum computing: No threat to existing architectures
Big companies may dabble in quantum computing, but it won’t affect their underlying businesses any time soon.
Companies that are developing quantum computing environments and software may have an edge, Bernstein says, but those investments may take patience to pay off.
Because quantum computers use a “completely different” computer architecture, a completely different development paradigm is required. This could create “huge opportunities” for software companies, but the focus remains on progress. Quantum computing is unlikely to replace existing digital computing architectures, but will be used for cutting-edge new applications that do not require reprogramming the entire infrastructure currently in use.
Existing enterprise management applications (ERP) are unlikely to be affected, as the cost of writing a solution to a “completely different” architecture will not provide a commensurate return on investment unless the computation is fast enough to provide a quick return. The applications that are expected to have a transformative impact are those that are at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and big data analytics.
While these technologies may take time to materialise, once they do, competition will be fierce and early applications will emerge in the supply chain.
The battle between tech giants over quantum computing
Tech giants are leading the way in cutting-edge technology, and quantum computing is no different. IBM, Google, Intel and Rigetti, a SAN Francisco-based start-up, are racing to build their own quantum systems. These machines take advantage of counterintuitive features of quantum physics to process information in a different way than traditional computers.
In November, IBM set a computing milestone when it announced it had built a quantum computer capable of handling 50 qubits, or qubits. The company has also launched a 20-qubit system on its cloud computing platform.
IBM has been working on quantum computing for a long time, with the company’s researchers creating the field of quantum information processing and conducting fundamental research in the field for decades. IBM has also made significant progress in usability quantum systems, first enabling cloud computing to access quantum computers and develop related software tools, and second proving that a simple machine can be used in fields such as chemistry.
Google’s interest in quantum computing has also surged in recent years. On October 24, 2017, Google announced on its official blog that it has opened its quantum computing software OpenFermion, following tensorFlow, Caffe and other open source development frameworks for deep learning.
The open source code for OpenFermion, which Google says is free to use, allows chemists and materials scientists to adapt algorithms and equations to run on quantum computers using Google software. In fact, Google’s open source approach is also the current trend in quantum computing, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, D-Wave and other companies have announced the opening of their quantum computing platforms to facilitate the commercial operation of quantum computing.
In addition, in an article published in Nature, Google made a statement about quantum supremacy, laying out Google’s plan to prove that quantum computers are capable of performing tasks beyond traditional computers. A key part of the plan is to build 50-qubit quantum calculators to solve quantum sampling problems.
According to News Scientist, Google has successfully simulated a 9-qubit quantum computer to achieve quantum sampling, and is currently actively building a 50-qubit quantum computer. The main challenge is how to keep the error rate low as the number of qubits increases, which is a major problem with quantum scalability. Alan Ho, a Google engineer, explained that Google is currently building a quantum system that is expected to achieve at least 99.7% two-qubit fidelity by the end of the year.
Although IBM has built a quantum computer capable of handling 50 qubits, that doesn’t mean quantum computing is ready for widespread adoption. Because the systems IBM develops are still as picky and challenging as those built by other companies. In 50 – and 20-qubit systems, the quantum state existed for 90 microseconds, a record but still a very short time.
Nevertheless, the 50-qubit system is an important sign of the development of quantum computers. Other systems built so far have limited performance and can only perform calculations that can be performed on traditional supercomputers. And a 50-qubit machine can do things that are not possible with quantum computing.
Original link:
www.valuewalk.com/2017/12/qua…
www.technologyreview.com/s/609451/ib…
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