Artificial intelligence today is as self-aware as a paper clip. Despite the hype — such as a Google engineer’s bizarre claim that his company’s AI systems are “alive” and a tweet from Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicting that computers will have human intelligence by 2029, But the technology is still unable to perform simple everyday tasks. This includes driving a vehicle, especially in unexpected situations that require even the tiniest bit of human intuition or thought.
Is quantum computing more dangerous than artificial intelligence? | Expert Viewpoint
The sensationalism surrounding AI isn’t surprising, considering Musk himself has warned that AI technology could become humanity’s “greatest existential threat” if countries don’t regulate it. But whether or not computers can acquire human-like intelligence, the world has summoned a different and equally destructive AI demon: precisely because today’s AI is nothing more than a rude, unintelligent system that uses algorithms and other technologies to process a superhuman amount of automated decision-making data, it is widely used by relevant agencies and businesses to widely obtain information, create deepfakes and unleash autonomous lethal weapons already posing a danger to humanity.
Adding to the danger is the lack of any AI regulation. Instead, irresponsible tech groups like Google and Meta have acted as judges and jurors in all areas of AI. They are suppressing different voices, including their own engineers warning of danger.
The world’s failure to contain the demons of AI — or rather, crude technology masquerading as AI — should be a profound warning. There is a more powerful emerging technology that has the potential to wreak havoc, especially if it is combined with artificial intelligence: quantum computing. We urgently need to understand the potential impact of this technology, regulate it, and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands before it’s too late. The world must not repeat the mistakes of refusing to regulate AI.
Although still in its infancy, quantum computing operates on a fundamentally different basis than today’s semiconductor-based computers. If the various projects underway around the world are successful, these machines will be so powerful that they can do in seconds what traditional computers would take millions of years to do.
Semiconductors represent information as a series of 1s and 0s – which is why we call it digital technology. Quantum computers, on the other hand, use a type of computational unit called a qubit. By incorporating a counterintuitive property in quantum physics called superposition, a qubit can hold values of 1 and 0 at the same time. If you find this confusing, you’re right – it’s difficult for even experienced engineers to grasp. Thus, two qubits can represent the sequence 1-0, 1-1, 0-1 and 0-0, all in parallel and at the same time. This enables a huge increase in computing power, which increases exponentially with each additional qubit.
If quantum physics leaves the experimental stage and enters everyday applications, it will find many uses and change many aspects of life. With its ability to rapidly process vast amounts of data that would overwhelm any system today, quantum computers have the potential to enable better weather forecasting, financial analysis, logistics planning, space research and drug discovery. And some actors are likely to use them for nefarious purposes, destroying bank records, private communications and passwords on every digital computer in the world. Cryptography today encodes data in large numbers of combinations that are impossible to crack in a reasonable amount of time using classical digital techniques. But quantum computers—using quantum mechanical phenomena such as superposition, entanglement and uncertainty—may be able to try combinations so quickly that they can brute force encryption almost instantaneously.
To be clear, quantum computing is still in its infancy — although we can only guess where exactly. Due to the huge potential and revolutionary applications of the technology, quantum computing projects are likely to become part of national defense research. Such research is often confidential, and there is a lot of talk and speculation about reaching the milestone. Projects are known to include France, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, and India, while in the US, IBM, Google, Intel, and Microsoft, as well as various start-ups, defense contractors, and universities are working on quantum computing .
Despite the lack of publicity, some basic applications have been credibly demonstrated, including quantum sensors capable of detecting and measuring electromagnetic signals. One such sensor is used to precisely measure Earth’s magnetic field from the International Space Station.
In another experiment, Dutch researchers sent quantum information through a basic quantum communication network. Instead of using traditional optical fibers, the scientists used three small quantum processors to instantly transmit qubits from the transmitter to the receiver. These experiments have yet to show practical applications, but they could lay the groundwork for a future quantum internet in which quantum data can be safely transmitted through a network of quantum computers faster than the speed of light. So far, this has only been possible in the realm of science fiction.
The U.S. Biden administration sees the risk of losing the quantum computing race so imminent and so dire that it issued two presidential directives in May: one that puts the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Council directly under the authority of the White House, and the other A program directing government agencies to ensure that the United States leads in quantum computing while reducing the potential security risks quantum computing poses to cryptographic systems.
Experiments are also working to combine quantum computing with artificial intelligence to go beyond the limitations of conventional computers. Today, large machine learning models take months to train on digital computers because of the massive amount of computation that must be performed—OpenAI’s GPT-3, for example, has 175 billion parameters. As these models grow to trillions of parameters—a necessity for today’s dumb AI to become smart—they will take longer to train. Quantum computers could dramatically speed up this process while using less energy and space. In March 2020, Google launched TensorFlow Quantum, the first quantum AI hybrid platform that takes pattern and anomaly search in massive amounts of data to the next level. Combined with quantum computing, AI could theoretically lead to more revolutionary outcomes than AI perception has been warned by critics.
Given the potential scope and capabilities of quantum technology, the mistakes of AI must not be repeated—regulatory failures brought algorithmic bias into the world, exacerbated human bias, social media support for conspiracy theories, and attacks on AI institutions. Democracy powered by artificial intelligence-generated fake news and social media posts. The danger lies in the machine’s ability to make decisions autonomously, and flaws in computer code can lead to unexpected and often harmful outcomes. In 2021, the quantum community issued a call to action to urgently address these issues. In addition, critical public and private intellectual property related to quantum technologies must be protected from theft and misuse.
In addition, there are national defense issues. In the world of security technology, the holy grail is a so-called cryptanalytic-related quantum computer—a system capable of cracking much of the public-key cryptography used by digital systems around the world, for example, it can crack blockchains. Being in the hands of a hostile power is a very dangerous ability.
Therefore, in addition to accelerating research, targeted controls over developers, users, and exits should be implemented without delay. Patents, trade secrets, and related intellectual property should be strictly protected—a return to the kind of technological control that was a staple of security policy during the Cold War. The revolutionary potential of quantum computing takes risk to a new level.
Finally, to avoid the ethical issues of artificial intelligence and machine learning going terribly wrong, countries need to develop controls that are both in line with the power of technology and respectful of democratic values, human rights, and fundamental freedoms. Governments must urgently start thinking about regulations, standards and responsible use, and learn from the way countries have handled or mishandled other revolutionary technologies, including artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, biotechnology, semiconductors and nuclear fission. Therefore, we must not make the same mistakes that we have made with artificial intelligence and prepare now for the quantum age of tomorrow.
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