Are quantum computers all hype?

[Wilmer Digreux]

Geordie Rose is the co-founder of D-Wave systems and has worked as their Chief Technical Officer since 06. D-Wave systems is the first company in the world to sell quantum computers. Here he explains a bit about how they work and what they will be used for.

• yes, he actually does talk at length about how they exploit information from parallel universes (that's how he puts it. I vaguely understand how qubits work and maybe he's really talking about quantum superposition or something akin to the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment......But those are his words).
• He puts up a quote from David Deusch saying "Quantum computation will be the first technology that allows useful tasks to be performed in collaboration between parallel universes."
• He describes the appearance of the quantum computers as big, black monoliths.
• He says when standing next to one, they give off an audible pulse about every second that sounds eerily like a heartbeat and it feels like standing next to "an alter to an alien God." (wtf ?)

• The quantum computers have an internal temperature of a fraction of a degree just above absolute zero (hundreds of times colder than interstellar space)
• He is super excited about using quantum computers to create AI and making machines that can outperform humans at literally anything.
• Says the shadows of the parallel worlds overlap with ours and if we're smart enough we can dive into them and grab their resources and bring them back into ours (again, his words). And he reasserts that this is actually how these things work.

He makes 3 predictions for the future:

1. In the next 5 years NASA will discover an Earth-like planet and serious people will start discussing how we get there, and that they'll use D-Wave's machines to figure it out. (Idk what year this talk was, but it was uploaded to YT in 2015. NASA discovered 7 Earth-like planets in 2017. So I guess he was right about that one).
2. By 2023, a major breakthrough in physics will occur based on a model whose cornerstone is in the reality of parallel universes; an experiment will be performed on a quantum computer that will support the new theory.
3. By 2028, intelligent machines will exist that can do anything humans can do; quantum computers will have played a critical role in the creation of this new type of intelligence.

 

[avenue94]

He is super excited about using quantum computers to create AI and making machines that can outperform humans at literally anything.

Guess someone better get cracking on translating all the AI and machine learning work that's been optimized only for classical computing to quantum. That's a pretty big miss on predictions from him.

1. By 2023, a major breakthrough in physics will occur based on a model whose cornerstone is in the reality of parallel universes; an experiment will be performed on a quantum computer that will support the new theory.
2. By 2028, intelligent machines will exist that can do anything humans can do; quantum computers will have played a critical role in the creation of this new type of intelligence

Also pretty big whiffs.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

In theory, no. In practice, yes, they’re all hype. If they can actually make them work, not using a bunch of regular computer software to correct their errors, they could be revolutionary.

 

[RichardHarrow]

Some guy tried to show me a quantum computer one time and I whipped his ass

“A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.”

Emo Philips

 

[GolovKing]

A quantum computer can solve in a single second problems that would take all the computers on Earth thousands of years to figure out.

Even the experts working on quantum computing don’t fully understand its potential yet.

Hartmut Neven, who leads Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, shared that their quantum chip, called "Willow," completed a crazy complex task known as a random circuit sampling benchmark in just five minutes.

For comparison, one of the world’s top classical supercomputers would need 10 septillion years (yeah, that’s 10 followed by 24 zeros) to do the same thing... longer than the age of the universe.

This mind-blowing capability has sparked some wild theories, like the idea that quantum computers might prove the multiverse is real.

Some believe these machines could be pulling information from parallel universes, essentially tapping into infinite sources of intelligence.

WILD.

That sounds like a bunch of horse shit that some scientists say to normal people just to get them excited. Scientists don't know what the fuck they are talking about when they speak about dimensions and shit like that. They don't even have a surface level understanding of mars or the moon

 

[Beechwood]

Quantum computing is a hot area for stock investing I read. Quantum computer stocks and ETF is doing better than AI stocks, which says something as AI stocks have done wonderfully the last few years. Apparently investors think well of these computers such as Google's quantum computer.

I don't know what to make of it personally. I read a few books of late that thought poorly of quantum theories. There are other theories that can explain some of the effects quantum theorists have come up with. Who ever is right, hope the quantum computers are good and helpful with AI computing.

An article I read recently ~

Think AI Is Baffling? Here’s How to Pretend You Understand Quantum Computing.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ai-baffling-understand-quantum-computing-eb1135c4

 

[subtlySteve]

That sounds like a bunch of horse shit that some scientists say to normal people just to get them excited. Scientists don't know what the fuck they are talking about when they speak about dimensions and shit like that. They don't even have a surface level understanding of mars or the moon

I guess those scientists, with their whole "sending robots to Mars" and "landing on the moon" thing, are just winging it, huh?

And dimensions? Pfft! What even are they? Just some made-up nonsense so physicists can sound cool at parties.

Because we all know that quantum mechanics is just astrology for people who shop at IKEA. (I'm from Sweden, trust me...)

But you? You’ve cracked the code.

You’ve exposed the scam.

You should march right into a physics conference, slap a couple of Nobel laureates in the mouth, and say, "Hey, fellas, drop the charade. You don’t know squat about dimensions or Mars.

Now pass me the chalk so I can show you how real science is done... using only my gut instinct and a bag of Funyuns!"

Bravo, my dude.

 

[RoastBeast]

If encryption is useless with quantum computing, wouldn't hooking one up to the internet basically be able to steal everyone's passwords in a second and steal the money out of everyone's bank accounts?

 

[subtlySteve]

If encryption is useless with quantum computing, wouldn't hooking one up to the internet basically be able to steal everyone's passwords in a second and steal the money out of everyone's bank accounts?

Theoretically, yeah.

But researchers are already working on new encryption methods that can stand up to quantum attacks.

The switch to more secure systems is already happening, and it’ll be a big focus in the coming years.

 

[GolovKing]

I guess those scientists, with their whole "sending robots to Mars" and "landing on the moon" thing, are just winging it, huh?

And dimensions? Pfft! What even are they? Just some made-up nonsense so physicists can sound cool at parties.

Because we all know that quantum mechanics is just astrology for people who shop at IKEA. (I'm from Sweden, trust me...)

But you? You’ve cracked the code.

You’ve exposed the scam.

You should march right into a physics conference, slap a couple of Nobel laureates in the mouth, and say, "Hey, fellas, drop the charade. You don’t know squat about dimensions or Mars.

Now pass me the chalk so I can show you how real science is done... using only my gut instinct and a bag of Funyuns!"

Bravo, my dude.

Thinking someone understands dimensions because they can send robots to mars is like thinking someone can build a skyscraper because they can build Legos. Actually the gap to being able to understand and explore other dimensions is much much further, beyond human comprehension. And no unlike these scientists I'm not claiming to have cracked a code, I just have enough awareness and enough humility to know that humans ability to explore and understand other dimensions is likely to never be possible and if it ever does happen, the shit these scientists are saying today probably won't even be in the same ballpark

 

[avenue94]

I guess those scientists, with their whole "sending robots to Mars" and "landing on the moon" thing, are just winging it, huh?

And dimensions? Pfft! What even are they? Just some made-up nonsense so physicists can sound cool at parties.

Because we all know that quantum mechanics is just astrology for people who shop at IKEA. (I'm from Sweden, trust me...)

But you? You’ve cracked the code.

You’ve exposed the scam.

You should march right into a physics conference, slap a couple of Nobel laureates in the mouth, and say, "Hey, fellas, drop the charade. You don’t know squat about dimensions or Mars.

Now pass me the chalk so I can show you how real science is done... using only my gut instinct and a bag of Funyuns!"

Bravo, my dude.

The distinction you're missing is that it's important to understand the context of comments from scientists. Are they coming from a respected researcher in an academic paper? Or are they coming from a CTO trying to pump up the valuation if their company?

The latter doesn't make comments useless, but scientists are not immune from bias.

Quantum computing is a hot area for stock investing I read. Quantum computer stocks and ETF is doing better than AI stocks, which says something as AI stocks have done wonderfully the last few years. Apparently investors think well of these computers such as Google's quantum computer.

I don't know what to make of it personally. I read a few books of late that thought poorly of quantum theories. There are other theories that can explain some of the effects quantum theorists have come up with. Who ever is right, hope the quantum computers are good and helpful with AI computing.

An article I read recently ~

Think AI Is Baffling? Here’s How to Pretend You Understand Quantum Computing.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ai-baffling-understand-quantum-computing-eb1135c4

This is the kind of wishful thinking that tends to cause head scratches. The modern AI boom and QC are two separate hype trains with almost no overlap so far. You'd need several Nobel prize sizes breakthroughs and lots of money and effort to bridge the gap. Ai is very unlikely to be the first big use case for QC.

Tldr you can't just port Chat GPT over to a QC.

 

[ChosenOne]

This was the first computer. Now we have laptops.



i imagine Quantum computers are goin to go the same route

Yes our cell phones have more computing power than the earliest computers did.

Quantum computers today are basically that evolution jump again in computing power.

 

[revoltub]

Theoretically, yeah.

But researchers are already working on new encryption methods that can stand up to quantum attacks.

The switch to more secure systems is already happening, and it’ll be a big focus in the coming years.

If quantum is as powerful as they say, then how could you create an encryption method to defend against it unless you use quantum for that too?

 

[subtlySteve]

If quantum is as powerful as they say, then how could you create an encryption method to defend against it unless you use quantum for that too?

Much like the age-old game of cops and robbers or cat and mouse, methods will continually evolve.

Methods that will harness the principles of quantum mechanics to create secure systems.

Fighting quantum with quantum, so to speak.

Apparently, based on some of my research... by which I mean Google... many experts are focused on post-quantum cryptography, which is all about creating algorithms that can withstand quantum attacks without needing quantum hardware.

How does it work? Fuck if I know!

 

[revoltub]

Much like the age-old game of cops and robbers or cat and mouse, methods will continually evolve.

Methods that will harness the principles of quantum mechanics to create secure systems.

Fighting quantum with quantum, so to speak.

Apparently, based on some of my research... by which I mean Google... many experts are focused on post-quantum cryptography, which is all about creating algorithms that can withstand quantum attacks without needing quantum hardware.

How does it work? Fuck if I know!

It sounds like they are sending a ragtag group of programs to fight a multidimensional quantum computer.

 

[avenue94]

Yes our cell phones have more computing power than the earliest computers did.

Quantum computers today are basically that evolution jump again in computing power.

I'm not surprised that you are also on the QC hype train. At any rate, quantum computers aren't a replacement for tradition computers, they're a (almost) completely separate market that would only really intersect with supercomputers. No consumer is going to be buying a quantum computer at Best Buy 20 years from now instead of a Macbook. There's pretty much no use case for personal computing end users.

 

[ChosenOne]

I'm not surprised that you are also on the QC hype train. At any rate, quantum computers aren't a replacement for tradition computers, they're a (almost) completely separate market that would only really intersect with supercomputers. No consumer is going to be buying a quantum computer at Best Buy 20 years from now instead of a Macbook. There's pretty much no use case for personal computing end users.

Is anyone saying quantum computers are replacing PC's or are you just spewing garbage, as usual?

What i said is no more hype than someone saying the first personal computers will become ubiquitious, and far more powerful to the point you will be able to carry them in your hand in a smart phone, that has not yet even been developed.

If you were speaking on this topic back then you would call personal computers, cell phones and smartphones, hype trains as that is your default. If you do not see it today and understand the value, you freeze it in time as if it will never improve.

You do this ignoring the ENTIRE history of ALL the other major advances (cell phone, smart phone, PC, Internet, etc) all proving your world view stupid and wrong each and EVERY time.

 

[avenue94]

Is anyone saying quantum computers are replacing PC's or are you just spewing garbage, as usual?

Yes our cell phones have more computing power than the earliest computers did.

Quantum computers today are basically that evolution jump again in computing power.

You're the one comparing an enterprise advancement with cell phones. Pick a better analogy if you don't want people to think you are arguing QC's will have an impact for end-users.

What i said is no more hype than someone saying the first personal computers will become ubiquitious, and far more powerful to the point you will be able to carry them in your hand in a smart phone, that has not yet even been developed.

Yeah except QC will never be as cost effective or portable as classic computing, meaning you're making a laughable proclamation once again. Like I said, you are failing to grasp that QC and CC are fundamentally different industries and technologies. It's like comparing e-bikes to jumbo jets. Yeah, some overlap, but mostly different use cases and target markets.

If you were speaking on this topic back then you would call personal computers, cell phones and smartphones, hype trains as that is your default. If you do not see it today and understand the value, you freeze it in time as if it will never improve.

What makes you say that? I'm not a luddite, my stances are shaded by the fact that I work adjacent to the industries you are so excited yet uninformed about. Hence it's hard to miss the huge gaps between what you are selling and what those providers are actually seeing and experiencing internally.

You do this ignoring the ENTIRE history of ALL the other major advances (cell phone, smart phone, PC, Internet, etc) all proving your world view stupid and wrong each and EVERY time.

Notice how all of those advancements had massive consumer audiences forecasted from the start? For an entrepreneur in residence you sure are terrible at understanding nuance and forecasting markets since enterprise is a completely different beast from consumer.

It's quite funny that you think my worldview is anti-technology, because in your mind all you can understand is band wagoning or not. Like I mentioned last time, I'm sure I'll meet dozens of ill informed sales folks at CES spouting the same drivel as you. And if I'm lucky I'll get someone pitching me AI and QC in the same sentence.

 

[chardog]

Since when did facts become hype?

Oh, so you're saying you know better than the founder of Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab?

"Quantum computing isn't a replacement for classical computing." ... Well aren't you a contrarian stating the obvious?

No kidding, Captain Redundancy.

It’s like saying a scalpel isn’t good for chopping firewood.

So unless you’re a quantum engineer, how about you save the "relax, it's overhyped" takes for something less revolutionary? Like... I don't know... debating the best way to organize your sock drawer.

The third person going on my ignore list of 2025.

Bye.

you need to chill, it wasnt that deep

 

[burningspear]

all i know is they will make passwords irrelevant