- yesterday
You’ve heard about quantum computers. Maybe you’ve seen the “race for quantum supremacy” between governments and companies, or read that quantum computers will break all encryption, or heard terms like “qubits” or “superposition” or “quantum mechanics” in a confusing tv segment. But you might be wondering… what does a quantum computer actually DO? And how could it actually affect my life?
Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.
Gear I use:
Camera: Sony A7SIII
Lens: Sony 16–35 mm F2.8 GM and 35mm prime
Audio: Sennheiser SK AVX
Chapters:
00:00 What is a quantum computer?
02:00 Why is quantum computing important?
04:00 The Quantum Video Game analogy
07:40 What does a quantum computer look like?
09:38 How does a quantum computer work?
12:00 What is a quantum computer good for?
13:21 Will quantum computers break all encryption?
15:22 What's the future of quantum computing?
16:27 Updating the Quantum Video Game analogy
Use the word “type” in a comment to let me know you’re a real one who read to the end!
Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.
Gear I use:
Camera: Sony A7SIII
Lens: Sony 16–35 mm F2.8 GM and 35mm prime
Audio: Sennheiser SK AVX
Chapters:
00:00 What is a quantum computer?
02:00 Why is quantum computing important?
04:00 The Quantum Video Game analogy
07:40 What does a quantum computer look like?
09:38 How does a quantum computer work?
12:00 What is a quantum computer good for?
13:21 Will quantum computers break all encryption?
15:22 What's the future of quantum computing?
16:27 Updating the Quantum Video Game analogy
Use the word “type” in a comment to let me know you’re a real one who read to the end!
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00So, this is it.
00:02This is a quantum computer.
00:04This is a quantum computer.
00:10Here I am seeing a real-life quantum computer for the very first time
00:14with my friend and king of tech YouTube, Marques Bradley.
00:17And I'm finally understanding why quantum computers are such a big deal.
00:22Quantum computers.
00:23Quantum technology.
00:24What on earth is a quantum computer?
00:26Bits.
00:27Qubit.
00:28Try all the codes at once.
00:29Whichever nation first develops a practical quantum computer will have a tremendous advantage.
00:34Quantum supremacy.
00:35I see a lot of news about quantum computers, and it's always extremely confusing.
00:40That was really well done, and I still need to re-hear it.
00:43But also, it's often wrong.
00:45Quantum computers aren't supercomputers.
00:47They aren't bigger, faster versions of what we use now.
00:50There's something totally different.
00:52And that difference is actually the key to understanding why they're such a big deal.
00:56Why governments around the world are battling it out to build them the fastest.
01:00Quantum computers are wild.
01:01They're on track to change what we can build and how we understand the world.
01:05They're kept at temperatures colder than space.
01:08But if you think you really understand how they work, you're probably wrong.
01:12At least, I didn't.
01:13And that's where this video starts.
01:15Marques and I both realized that there was this big, important technology that we really
01:21didn't understand.
01:22So we decided to go on an adventure to figure out the truth about quantum computers, what
01:27they can really do, and why we should care.
01:30And of course, we're taking you on that adventure with us to show you what we learn as we learn it.
01:35And more importantly, to show you how these crazy computers might actually impact your life.
01:40And sooner than you think.
01:46It's a very niche skill we just got, which is being able to hear when a quantum computer is working.
01:50So it works, it's not broken.
02:05I swear I'm usually good with tech, but...
02:08Like, the only function of this screen is to provide directions.
02:13You're getting this?
02:15So we're going to visit IBM's quantum computer.
02:19This is really exciting that they're letting us see this computer because it is, to my
02:24knowledge, the largest quantum computer that exists.
02:26Which I say with confidence, like I know what that means.
02:29I was going to say, what is biggest?
02:30Because like, you know, like supercomputers, they're massive rooms full of computers.
02:35And when someone says we have the biggest supercomputer, I'm like, oh, I can picture that.
02:39The largest quantum computer, I'm not even sure what to picture.
02:42I imagine the golden octopus.
02:44You know, that thing that Biden looked at like this?
02:46The press images, yeah.
02:47And I know that in order to see that, they have to shut down the computer.
02:50So this is like, took some real logistics on their part to allow us to see it.
02:54This is a real deal.
02:56What is most interesting to you about quantum computing?
02:59It's definitely on the edge of my expertise, I would say.
03:04I'm really curious about when it's actually going to touch like regular people.
03:07My whole concern is purchase decisions.
03:10At some point in the future, quantum computing will come into play with a real purchase decision.
03:14Some will have like a device that they can buy where quantum computing is a part of it or maybe went into its creation at least.
03:21When are we going to get to that point?
03:23One of the things that I think is very important to make clear is this is a different kind of explainer.
03:29You're just coming with us as we figure this out.
03:31Exploratory explainer.
03:32Exactly.
03:33The whole new genre.
03:34Along for this adventure are Cody and Nicole.
03:37Nicole is an associate producer on this episode who is also studying quantum communication for her PhD.
03:42And Cody is our DP, the man behind the camera.
03:45Thank God they're both here.
03:46So, when I started doing this episode, I spoke to a really famous quantum physicist.
03:51He was really frustrated at the way that people were talking about quantum computers.
03:54And I was like, okay, how do you want people to think about them like them?
03:58Okay, here's the analogy that helps me understand what quantum computers are good for.
04:02Imagine that you're on a video game map.
04:04And how you get around depends on how good you are at doing math.
04:08You may not want to play this video game.
04:10Bear with me.
04:11So first, there were no computers.
04:13Things like geometry and astronomy took forever.
04:16So you have your little pencil and paper and you're traveling across the mathematical map by walking.
04:20So it was slow.
04:22And there were lots of areas that we just couldn't explore because it was beyond our computational ability.
04:26But then we developed early computers.
04:28And that allowed us to input larger data sets and answer problems that had previously been out of reach.
04:33These new computers unlocked new areas on our mathematical map.
04:37Instead of walking everywhere, we can now ride horses.
04:40We can get farther faster.
04:42And we can access areas that were previously inaccessible.
04:44But there were still parts of the map that our computers couldn't access.
04:48Luckily, computers just kept getting better.
04:50And they allowed us to solve more and more complex math problems.
04:53As a result, our virtual map has transformed.
04:56We have roads and cars.
04:58And we're just reaching areas that were previously unreachable.
05:02Better computers mean traveling across this map faster and more easily than ever.
05:06The thing that he said was really important to understand is that quantum computers are not faster cars.
05:12They're boats.
05:14A boat is not necessarily better than a car.
05:17They're just built for totally different terrain.
05:19So with our new quantum computers, we're beginning to navigate these new mathematical waters.
05:24Solving problems and discovering areas that traditional computers just can't.
05:28My question for IBM is what's in the water?
05:33Oh wow.
05:34What are the oceans that we're all of a sudden able to explore with our quantum computer boats?
05:39I love this.
05:40I'm an analogy person, so I'm fully absorbed in this now.
05:43This is why I think a quantum computer is never going to beat an iPhone.
05:48But I think that this is a better thing to offer the audience, like to offer you guys,
05:53instead of like quantum computers or just another exciting computer.
05:58I guess what people are probably clicking on this video thinking in their head is,
06:02will there really never ever be a quantum computer in my pocket?
06:05And I guess that would be, will there ever be a flying car boat?
06:10You know?
06:11Is the tech ever going to get to that point?
06:13It's just a question.
06:14I just want to say I really appreciate your commitment to this analogy.
06:16I love it.
06:17I love the analogy.
06:18Guys, we have arrived.
06:20Where have we have arrived to?
06:22This does not look like there's a quantum computer here.
06:25IBM Research Division.
06:27Here we go.
06:30Alright.
06:33Let's go.
06:34Let's go see a quantum computer.
06:35We made it.
06:36We're here.
06:37Here we go.
06:38Do you want to introduce yourself first?
06:39Oh, sure.
06:40Olivia, audience, audience, Olivia.
06:41Hi, I'm Olivia Lanes.
06:42I'm a researcher at IBM and I also work on the education and the community team.
06:47We're going to go look for a quantum computer.
06:55What's going on here?
06:56This is our Watson setup.
06:58No, please go ahead.
06:59This is where the Watson AI thing was displayed and it competed on Jeopardy with Ken Jennings.
07:07Watson, what is Chu?
07:08You are right.
07:09This is Brent.
07:10It's Brent's lab, so it's very nice of him to let us in.
07:14Great to meet you.
07:15Thanks for having us.
07:16Let us in.
07:17So this is the lab.
07:18That's the quantum computer?
07:20Yeah.
07:21Actually, this is a dilution refrigerator.
07:23This whole thing is basically constructed to keep the quantum computer very, very cold.
07:2815 millikelvin.
07:29It's the coldest thing basically in the universe.
07:32It's colder than outer space.
07:33So inside that is 15 millikelvin.
07:37Yep.
07:38So here, let me show you the one that we can like play with.
07:42This is it.
07:43This is a quantum computer.
07:45This is a quantum computer.
07:46The quantum computer is a chip in this one here.
07:53But this whole thing keeps the quantum computer working at insanely cold temperatures like we talked about.
08:00So this is all refrigerator technology.
08:03So all of these cables that you see here on the side carry signals down through the fridge into the processor and then they do their quantum stuff and it comes up.
08:14And it goes to these room temperature control electronics and they turn it into things that humans can understand.
08:21That is a quantum computer.
08:23We were allowed to touch it, which was cool.
08:26Oh my god.
08:27So I think it's really funny that when people generally talk about like the difference between classical and quantum computers,
08:32people are like, okay, well, you know how a classical computer works, right?
08:34But like the truth is that like nobody knows that.
08:37A simplification of it is it comes down to bits.
08:41And bits are made out of pieces of silicon and you have, you know, tens of thousands to millions of them in your computer.
08:48And they can either be in the state zero or one.
08:51We call it the ground state or the excited state.
08:53And everything that you type into your computer, like all words, all numbers, all colors, get translated into computer speech.
09:00But it's very binary, right?
09:01A quantum computer is run on qubits.
09:04Qubits aren't like bits.
09:05They aren't a one or a zero.
09:07They're more complex.
09:09Think of this like a wave.
09:11A qubit could be really likely to be zero, which means a lower energy wave.
09:15Or it could be really likely to be one, which means a higher energy wave.
09:19And each qubit has a probability of being each.
09:23When a quantum computer is working, the probabilities of multiple qubits interact.
09:27And they add constructively or destructively, just like waves would.
09:31If you were to like tap like two places in a pond.
09:34You know how when you like explain something to a two year old and they just keep going, why?
09:38And they have to explain it again and you go, why?
09:40Yeah.
09:41The question is, as the controller of the computer, you decide what about those probabilities?
09:49Basically, you are altering the probabilities while you're running an algorithm.
09:53It's a common misconception that quantum computers try all the options.
09:58That's not right.
09:59This is simplified, but it's more like a quantum computer kind of watches the pond.
10:04It watches how all of those waves interact and then finds the most likely answer.
10:08If this is all confusing, don't worry.
10:10All you really need to know is that quantum computers calculate things very differently
10:14than classical computers do.
10:16And that makes them good at different things.
10:18Quantum computers are not going to be faster at everything than a classical computer.
10:22Like, it's not good for addition, right?
10:24Because your calculator and your phone is perfectly good at that.
10:27But the things that quantum computers are good at is finding structure in tons of data.
10:33And if you're interested, we can close it back up.
10:36Absolutely.
10:38Put us to work.
10:47Let's go back to our virtual map.
10:48So we have our boats and we're floating around discovering new parts of this map.
10:53One of the first new areas of interest is simulating nature.
10:57Simulation of nature seems really interesting.
10:59Why is nature one of the things?
11:00So nature fundamentally is quantum and it obeys quantum physics.
11:05We just don't normally see it.
11:07But if you look at like a molecular level and like the atomic structure of molecules, everything has to follow the laws of quantum physics.
11:15It's really hard to calculate what a material or what an atom is going to do past a certain size.
11:23So at a certain point, it just can't do it.
11:25But if you're interested in like developing battery technology or creating new materials that have long chains of molecules, you're going to need a quantum computer.
11:37This is why people are so excited.
11:39Think of the new materials or medicines or molecules that we could make if we could better predict the way that nature behaves at a molecular scale.
11:46Oh yeah.
12:00There you go.
12:02Boom.
12:04Okay, so simulating nature is something that quantum computers could be amazing at.
12:09But we're also getting closer to another use for quantum computing.
12:13One that people and governments are more concerned about.
12:16Two completely new encryption algorithms.
12:18Break encryption.
12:19Quantum resistant encryption.
12:20A fully functional quantum computer could be built with code breaking capabilities that could render all forms of online encryption unreliable.
12:28Okay, now this is the one that I've been waiting to ask about.
12:31Okay.
12:32Why is everybody so obsessed with talking about quantum computers and encryption?
12:37So the first major algorithm that was developed for quantum computers is Shor's algorithm named after Peter Shor.
12:44Super nice guy.
12:45He invented an algorithm which basically can find factors, prime factors for really large numbers.
12:52Why does anyone care about this?
12:53Because that's the basis for RSA encryption, which is basically how all transactions on the internet are conducted.
12:59And the entire reason that all of our encryption schemes today work that way is because it's basically impossible to crack that with a brute force classical algorithm.
13:10It would take, I think it's like billions of years.
13:13But a quantum computer could do that way more efficiently.
13:16We're talking hours to days.
13:18So this global race now makes a ton of sense.
13:22Whoever gets a quantum computer to actually do this has a big obvious advantage.
13:27But we haven't done that yet.
13:28That's one of the ones that requires probably like a million qubits or more to do, but we're working up to it.
13:35So we're not going to be using quantum computers to break all internet security right now.
13:39Today, we're at 433 qubits, the record set by IBM.
13:43400 to a million qubits is a big difference.
13:47But Olivia is confident that we'll get there sooner than you think.
13:50In the next five or even less years, we're going to see people switching over to quantum-safe algorithms because of this reason.
13:57So RSA goes away and we have quantum-safe encryption instead?
14:02Probably.
14:03Not all at once.
14:04Yeah.
14:05But gradually, you're going to see people do it.
14:07We're progressing at an incredibly fast rate.
14:10We're solving problems that people didn't even begin to know how to crack two years ago.
14:15But we've done it.
14:16Like every single year, everything that we say we do, we do.
14:19Nothing mathematically or physically prevents it.
14:23And so if the physics says it's allowed, the engineers will find a way.
14:28That's sick.
14:29I'm picturing, I'm adjusting the analogy slightly, that it's submarine.
14:34Because there are sort of different levels of quantum computing.
14:39Yeah.
14:40We are just skimming the surface.
14:41We're going to keep iterating and improving upon this technology every single year.
14:45And we're probably going to discover, like, new applications that we haven't even considered yet.
14:51It's a bottomless ocean.
14:52It's a bottomless ocean.
14:53The tour was amazing.
14:57And as we left, we thought about what we learned.
14:59Awesome.
15:00Let me just get on the highway.
15:01I don't know.
15:02Have thoughts.
15:04Quantum computers do look exactly like I imagine they look.
15:07They look like the pictures.
15:08Like the picture, yeah.
15:09But something about being in person with it was just like, oh, helped me understand that this is a fundamentally different technology.
15:15Like, it just looks so weird.
15:17I'm really glad I got to finish exploring that analogy.
15:19And fully understand it, too.
15:21And adjust it a little bit to, like, really encapsulate at least everything that I currently understand about quantum computers.
15:28In that there is an evolution to the future of them.
15:31And that they are specialized and really good at certain things.
15:35It's just, uh, I like a good analogy.
15:38So that helped a lot.
15:39Okay, so what is your summary of the analogy now?
15:41I think we can keep almost all of it, which is that our exploration of other fields of mathematics and physics and science was equivalent to other steadily advancing forms of transportation around our imaginary video game island.
15:54But I like adjusting to submarine because there are levels to it.
15:59It's more of a bottomless ocean in that we're just going to keep going.
16:01The tech gets better.
16:02There is no physical limit.
16:03It just continues to improve.
16:04Here's how Olivia put the dream of how we'd actually use quantum computers.
16:09It's beautiful because, like, of course, we all want to make the world a better place.
16:12We want to develop technology that's going to enable us to do fundamentally different and better things.
16:17But it's also beautiful because, like, part of the human experience is you just want to, like, learn what we are and, like, learn more about the world we live in.
16:25And the fact is the world is quantum mechanical.
16:29There you have it.
16:30Thanks for coming.
16:31Peace.
16:32This episode was so much fun to make.
16:36Huge If True is a genuinely optimistic, journalistically rigorous show about finding ways to use technology to make the world better.
16:43If that's something that you believe in, the best thing that you can do to support us is to subscribe.
16:47And if you like this episode, you definitely should subscribe because Marques and I already have another adventure planned.
16:52Also, if you subscribe, leave a comment and let me know.
16:54I'd love to meet you.
16:55See you for the next one.
16:56Bye.
16:57Bye.
16:58Bye.
16:59Bye.
17:00Bye.
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