Quantum Technology and its Impact on Society
Understanding Quantum Technology and its Impact on Society
I hope this transcript finds all of you in good spirits. My name is Anne - a third-year under-grad student in applied electronics and instrumentation engineering with interests in quantum computing, tech policy, mathematics, and artificial intelligence. Today, we will take a brief plunge into the fascinating world of quantum technology and measure its impact on society.
What is Quantum Technology?
To understand the concept of quantum technology, we must first familiarize ourselves with classical computers. Classical computers, which include those we use daily, comprise main memory for data storage, arithmetic logic unit for data processing, and a control unit for control mechanisms. A computer chip is made from basic modules performing fundamental tasks like adding two numbers using logic gates such as AND, OR, NOT gates. These gates, in turn, are made from transistors.
Before diving deeper, let’s understand a concept known as Moore's Law. Moore's Law states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles the every two years while the cost of computers halves, implying a steady decrease in transistor size as we progress.
Quantum Tunneling Phenomenon
A significant issue arises when transistors near the size of a few atoms. Electrons may "quantum tunnel" - a phenomenon where an electron transfers itself through a blocked passage on reaching the atomic level. This stewards us to the need for quantum computers, which use these quantum properties to perform operations on data, making them exponentially powerful.
The Advent of Quantum Supremacy
Back in 2019, Google claimed its 53 qubits processor, Sycamore, completed a task in 200 seconds - a task that would supposedly take a state-of-the-art supercomputer 10,000 years to finish. This ushered us into the era of Quantum Supremacy: the ability of a quantum computer to solve a problem that a classical computer cannot handle in any feasible amount of time.
Cloud-based Quantum Computing
In recent developments, companies like IBM and Amazon now provide online platforms for users to access their prototype quantum processors via the cloud, enabling users to run algorithms and experiments from their homes.
Applications of Quantum Technology
- Efficient problem solving: A quantum computer can solve complex problems in a lifetime that might take a traditional computer thousands of years to finish.
- Pharmaceutical research: Quantum computers can simulate quantum systems, expediting drug design and development.
- Financial modelling, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), and logistics optimization are just a few of the many areas benefitting from quantum technology's ability to simulate and solve complex computations.
Potential Risks of Quantum Technology
As promising as it sounds, quantum technology presents some potential dangers. A considerable risk is the disruption of our current cryptography systems. RSA - an encryption and decryption algorithm used by modern computers relies on the difficulty of factoring the product of two large prime numbers - can potentially be factored using a quantum algorithm known as Shor's algorithm. While we currently don't have such large quantum computers, it's crucial to consider these possible implications.
Addressing the implications of Quantum Technology for Society
Given the societal impacts of innovation, emerging technologies often need to evolve within the constraints of legal and ethical frameworks. These frameworks can minimize the negative implications on society without curbing future innovations.
Concerning quantum technology, we need to increase awareness among the public, encouraging discourse and drawing inspiration from existing legal frameworks that deal with AI and data policies. Policymakers, along with technologists, should work in harmony to formulate ethical, legal guidelines that clarify ambiguities related to this area.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it's evident that we're on the precipice of a technological revolution with quantum computing. As we continue to venture into this exciting field, we should ensure we remain cognizant of its social and cultural impacts and take measures to consider the well-being of our global community.
Video Transcription
Hello, everyone. Uh It's exciting to be a part of women and global conference. That's all within the comforts of my home. So I hope all are doing well.Um I'm Anne A NC and, and I'm currently doing my third year of under graduation in applied electronics and instrumentation Engineering from College of Engineering to an so, and I'm interested in uh quantum computing tech policy mathematics and artificial intelligence. So um feel free to uh hit me up if you want to have a simple chat about the uh aforementioned fields or if you want to collaborate with me. So um moving on uh today, I'll be giving a very small talk on quantum technology and its impact on society. So uh just to be sure that everyone's on the same page, I would first give an introduction to quantum quantum technology. Then we want to as to why it is important to evaluate the impact of an emerging technology on society. So uh it's going to be a 10 minute session and we, we've got a lot to cover. So brace yourself. So um um first of all, we need to know about the progress of classical computers. That is the ones that we already have to get an understanding of quantum computers. So uh computer parts are approaching the size of an atom.
So though as simple as it may sound, why would that be a problem? A computer is made up of very simple components. The main memory which for the present data, the a uh the arithmetic logic unit uh which is the means of processing data and the control unit which is for control mechanisms. Now, a circuit chip of a computer is made of basic modules that do basic functions like adding two numbers. And these modules are made of logic gates like your A, your not your R gates. All right. And these logic gates are in turn made of transistors. Yeah, before we move on to transistors, uh I would like to talk about mo love, which is more like a thumb rule than a dog. All right. So most love gives an insight into the steady rate of miniaturization of technology. So basically it states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years though the cost of computers will be H which is uh which basically means that the size of transistors is steadily decreasing as we progress. All right. So now coming back to transistors from an electrical point of view, there are electrical switches um that can block electrons from moving in one direction. And from a computer science point of view, they can be seen as the simplest form of a data processor in computers.
So a transistor is basically a switch that can either block or open the way for information coming through. Now, coming back to most though a typical scale for uh transistors is now 14 nanometers. Since transistors are shrinking to the size of only a few atoms electrons may just uh transfer themselves to the other side of a block passage, which is basically quantum tunneling. So quantum tunneling uh is a quantum mechanical phenomenon where a wave function can propagate through a potential barrier.
And this can be a real barrier for our technology to progress. Hence um just a moment. Yeah. Uh uh hence, yeah, uh hence, scientists and engineers need to use these weird quantum properties that we don't see in a macro world but which kick in at atomic level to their advantage by building quantum computers. So uh a quantum computer uh is uh is a device that uses quantum mechanical phenomena to perform operations on data. So they are exponentially powerful but at the same time expensive to build. But at least for now. And obviously, they work differently, just say how quantum mechanics is different from classical mechanics. So now major companies and researchers uh are investing in this technology. Uh Now, let's talk about quantum supremacy. Um So quantum supremacy is a term which was coined in uh 2017, which simply means the ability of a quantum computer to solve a problem that a classical computer cannot in any feasible amount of time. All right. So uh in 2019, Google claimed that its quantum processor comprising of 53 cubits sycamore completed a task in 200 seconds that a state of the art supercomputer would take 10,000 years to finish. Thus, uh Google claimed to have achieved quantum supremacy.
However soon enough, IBM contested the claim with the counter argument saying the task would only take 2.5 days on a classical computer like summit which is uh summit being the most powerful classical computer in the world. Either way, this was a huge leap for humanity. All right.
So now uh companies like IBM and Amazon, they provide online platforms for people like us to access a set of their prototype quantum processor via cloud. And this is what we call cloud based quantum computing. This can be used to run algorithms and experiments and explore tutorials and simulations. So basically as a user you can sit at home and interact with the quantum processor using your home or a classical computer. All right. So uh basically all this amounts to the hopes of a far better and even technologically different tomorrow. So uh now quantum technology has a plethora of applications, all right. Um a quantum computer can process complex problems in very lifetime which can maybe take thousands of years for a traditional computer to complete similarly um classical computers are terrible at simulating quantum systems when compared to quantum computers, which open up the opportunity for pharmaceutical research, helping with drug design and development and considering our current global situation, this does sound promising, right.
So uh similarly financial modeling, artificial intelligence and machine learning logistic Optim optimization and so on are areas where quantum technology is going to come in handy with its ability to simulate and solve complex computations. Um But this is the good side of it.
What are some of the things that we have to be careful about? Uh So I hope you guys have heard about Rsars A is the best Shamir Elman. It is an algorithm used by modern computers to encrypt and decrypt messages and it is widely used for secure data transmission. All right, the security of RS A relies on the practical difficulty of factoring the product of two large prime numbers. Now, Shaw's algorithm is a quantum computer algorithm for integer factorization, which is exactly what RS A is based. So basically, Shaw's algorithm has the potential to break the common crypto systems R A with a large quantum computer. Currently, we don't have one, but it's it is crucial to gauge the implications of future developments in quantum technology. Now, technology has advanced to be a part of the of, of our social fabric, all right. And uh with every innovation impacting humans and as individuals and humanity as a whole. Hence the social scenario revolving around the growth of quantum related innovations is different from the setting when classical computing was progressing. So emerging technologies often take time to evolve with legal frameworks, ethical legal frameworks that minimize that negative implications on society without having to limit their uh future innovations. So even now humanity uh has not been able to evaluate the full potential of artificial intelligence.
Hence venturing into quantum technology without the necessary precautions can be detrimental to us as a global community. Um We do have classical encryption algorithms and quantum cryptography for the post quantum world to uh post quantum world to deal with the risks that come with the developments in quantum technology regarding cybersecurity. However, with um countries and technical companies already investing and researching in the field, apart from working on technological interventions to navigate the potential of quantum technology, technologists like us or legislators and policymakers should work to formulate ethical legal guidelines that clarify the ambiguities related to this area.
So awareness should be increased regarding quantum computing within and around the common public. So as to encourage more discourse and inspiration should be drawn from existing legal frameworks that work with A I and policies related to data. Hence, as we grow as a global community with emerging technological interventions, it is highly essential that we evaluate the social and cultural impact of such changes and undertake measures um uh to talking to take into consideration the well being of our civilization. So I hope.
Uh You have got an idea about foreign technology and social implications and as to why it's important to gauge its uh implications on society to formulate ethical and legal guidance guidelines. So if you find this interesting, do read more about this and if you wanna have a small chit chat about it, feel free to connect with me over linkedin. So that was it. Thank you so much for listening in. Uh Thanks so much guys. Have a wonderful day.