Many believe that a forthcoming generation of computer technology may someday double the computational power that is currently available to humans by factors of thousands or perhaps million. The pace at which we can do many important jobs, including finding and testing new medications or comprehending the effects of climate change, might be greatly accelerated if this occurs.
In a limited sense, quantum computing is already here. But in the next five to ten years, it may break into the mainstream, much like how traditional computers did in the 1970s and 1980s when they went from being used just in research laboratories and huge enterprises to be used in households and businesses of all sizes.
Computers have greatly expanded our capabilities, but they have also forced us to confront a fresh set of issues, particularly those related to the dangers they bring to security and encryption. And given their complexity and the small number of jobs for which they have been demonstrated to be more effective than classical computer technology, some people believe that quantum computers may really never be useful at all.
So, with the help of my most recent podcast guest, Lawrence Gasman, co-founder and president of Inside Quantum Technology and author of more than 300 research publications, I've put up a summary of where we are with quantum computing now and where we want to go in the future.
