Overview.
Encryption.
Augmented intelligence.
Custom drugs.
Weather forecasting.
Climate change.
Traffic control.
Holistic thinking.
Quantum computers are expected to have dramatically higher computing capabilities,
compared to even super computers that we have now.
Quantum computers are based on the emergent Quantum theory.
Quantum theory is still under research.
But scientists are already planning practical uses for Quantum theory.
Quantum computer are one such application of Quantum theory.
We can have a simplified example, of how powerful Quantum computers can be.
Let us imagine, that we need to find, in 5 minutes,
a particular X, printed in any page, of any of some 50 million books.
Today's computers will not complete the job.
Quantum computers would create 50 million parallel realities.
Each of those realities, will look at one book.
Such a computer would have no problems, finding the X.
A Quantum computer splits you into 50 million versions of yourself.
This helps to achieve tasks, which are currently impossible.
Where can we use, such enormous computing power.
We will discuss some potential applications of Quantum computing.
Current encryption techniques are built with the knowledge,
that it will take enormous amount of time, to "crack the code".
This will no longer be true with the advent of Quantum computers.
Current encryption techniques will be rendered obsolete.
Does this mean that our online security will be gone?
This would have tremendous impact on many online transactions,
including financial transactions.
Fortunately there is good news.
Scientists are working on Quantum encryption techniques,
such as Quantum key distribution.
This is an ultra secure communication method, that requires a key,
to decipher the message.
Due to the peculiar characteristics of Quantum mechanics,
if any one intercepts a Quantum encrypted message, they will not be able to decipher it.
Human brains are capable of very complex and sophisticated thinking.
Most of this capability is related to managing the life processes, in our body.
We are also capable of thinking outside of our life processes.
For example, when we think about mathematics, astronomy, DNA, etc..
Our natural intelligence is growing generation by generation.
We do have some limitations.
We can process information at a certain speed.
We can simultaneously process a limited amount of information.
We have difficulty in interrelating a large number of networked factors.
Quantum computers along with sophisticated software,
can help us overcome these limitations.
This sounds scary to some people.
They imagine computers with artificial intelligence will take over the world.
This scenario is unlikely.
When the industrial revolution began some people worried,
that machines will take over the world.
This we know has not happened.
Humans would still design the software, and we could expect they would manage the computer,
just like we manage our machines.
Machines have augmented our muscle power dramatically.
Quantum computers will augment our intelligence dramatically.
Drug development involves the study of interactions of molecules, proteins,
and other biochemicals.
There are an extraordinary amount of interactions that needs to be studied.
This makes drug development a tedious and time consuming process.
With quantum computing, this process is likely to be accelerated.
Different drugs can work differently for different people,
depending on their genetic and biological characteristics.
This makes the problem even more complex.
Quantum computers can easily process our entire genome information.
They can possible suggest drugs customised for individuals.
Today's supercomputers are used for weather forecasting.
We do know that, even now weather forecast are not very accurate.
Weather is determined by a large number of variables.
For example, air temperature, air pressure, wind velocity, wind direction,
ocean temperature, ocean currents, humidity, etc..
Many such interrelated factors are responsible for weather conditions.
When a large number of variables are interrelated, the problem becomes more complex.
We need more sophisticated software and computers, to solve these problems.
Quantum computers can play a role, in solving such problems.
We are in the unique epoch, of human history, called anthropocene.
It is a period where humans have made a significant impact on Earth's ecosystem.
This has happened in the short period, since the industrial revolution.
Humans are successfully and sadly, harming the planet's eco system.
We are already aware of global warming and climate change, induced by human activity.
One of the main causes, is the carbon emission, into the atmosphere.
This creates a greenhouse effect, which causes global warming.
Climate change is a complex problem, involving a large number of variables.
Predicting long term climate change, caused by anthropogenic activity,
can be aided by Quantum computers.
This is a more mundane and tangible problem that all of us experience.
Today's vehicles are human driven.
In future, we would have autonomous electric vehicles which drive itself.
These could be controlled by a computer.
A computer can control all the large number of vehicles, moving in a city.
There are many means of transport in a city.
Rail, metro, bus, cars, etc. all move in a city in uncoordinated way.
Sophisticated software, and Quantum computers can coordinate all means of transport.
Travelling will become a seamless experience.
We live in an age of specialisation.
Knowledge has been broken down into compartments.
Historically thinking has been an "all round" activity.
Early thinkers were called philosophers.
They knew of no compartments of knowledge.
They generally thought about everything.
Leonardo da Vinci was a 15th century thinker.
His interests included painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering,
inventions, literature, anatomy, geology, botany, history, cartography, palaeontology and ichnology.
He of course was not conscious, that he was all these things.
He just thought about whatever he found interesting.
Knowledge was not compartmentalised at that time.
The advantage of such thinking is, that we can inter relate many things.
As the body of knowledge expanded, humans found it more practical,
for individuals, to focus on one branch of knowledge.
Knowledge was classified, compartmentalised and labelled.
People specialised in a particular branch of knowledge.
As the field further expanded, the field of knowledge was more finely classified.
Now we have super specialities.
In one perspective , this kind of specialisation makes sense.
People are able to research deeper and deeper into the subject.
This increases the quantity of knowledge available to mankind.
The draw back is, that we start to think in parts, and not as a whole.
This possibly diminishes our quality of thinking.
Most natural phenomena are systems.
They comprise of subsystems, which are closely interrelated.
When we want to understand, something like the human body,
it helps to understand the parts and the sub systems, in a specialised way.
But, if we really want to understand the human body, we need to think of it as a whole.
Many solutions lie in understanding the whole system.
We can call this holistic thinking.
When systems are complex, they comprise of a large number of inter related subsystems.
One example, is the human being.
However deeply we study each part of the brain, we can never understand it as a whole.
It is difficult for the human mind to grasp the functioning as a whole.
With a help of sophisticated software and augmented intelligence,
we can possibly start to think more holistically.
Quantum computers can perhaps help to achieve this.