Quantum Computing+AI: A dangerous marriage!

I do not know if its marriage season, but I am petrified of one marriage! That is the marriage between Quantum Computer and AI! Reason being, I do not know if it is going to be holy one! Or a joyful one for that matter…for us! Why do I say that? Well, for one both are highly unpredictable and mysterious. We have no way of knowing what they are thinking or how, yet their union is extremely powerful. And the result could potentially have the power to help or destroy us, either way, our lives will not be the same!

Even today, retrospect how rapidly our dependence on AI and other intelligent systems is increasing. Every human activity, be it Health, Finance, Business activities, Government systems, Infrastructure, Satellites, Communications, everything utilises AI functions in some form. We have automated so much to generate ease of life to free up time, but seldom do we realise how much it is going to cost us!

Quantum computers 

Quantum computers are highly advanced systems completely different from classical computers and based on qubits. Qubits are fascinating as their values can hold superposition, which means infinite values at the same time. But they take one value upon measurement. The qubits can be entangled so that when one is measured the other one is affected too! Even if separated by distance! It is a difficult concept to grasp, and Albert Einstein called the entanglement ‘Spooky’! Do not stress if you find it difficult as even experts find it tough to understand it all, or at all!
Quantum-powered AI promises to break several barriers unbreakable so far! How? They increase the power of AI exponentially, performing millions of processes at the same time and increase the productivity and scalability of AI systems! We can get breakthroughs in fields of Drug development, Energy optimisation, Financial Modeling, weather forecasting, Autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity, sustainable Technology, and so on! 

What will take classical computers years to calculate or achieve, Quantum AI can potentially achieve within days if not hours! That is why investors are betting on its success and countries allocating huge sums for its further development. India too has formed the National Quantum Mission (NQM) and approved approximately $726 million for it! Not a surprise considering its expected market size was valued at $899 million in 2023 with expected increase to  $5.3 billion by 2029!

So why do we not have them at home like the supercomputer smartphones in our hands?

Unstable household: That is because they are still unstable, it’s difficult to build Quantum computers with large number of qubits. There is the cooling issue and if ideal conditions are not met and there is noise or the data is not clean, Quantum AI gives wrong results.

Pricy Couple: They are also extremely expensive to build. Much like the first large computers we built!
Unpredictable Duo: We do not know what all can happen when we combine Quantum computer with AI! This means that we cannot see the inner workings which they use to arrive at the decisions or results. Hence the transparency and trust issues are also present. Quantum computing can enhance the self-learning capabilities of AI multiple times! This can make very powerful yet unpredictable systems! 

Spoilt with Biases: Quantum AI is as good as the quality of Data they are fed. Hence, the issue of Biases forming cannot be ruled out in case erroneous or poor-quality data is provided. Quantum has the capability to further enhance the biases of AI exponentially causing tremendously flawed outputs.

Cyber maniacs: Quantum AI is a cybersecurity nightmare as they have the capacity to break certain classical encryption algorithms compromising crucial data security.

Ethical Validation: Since they are not transparent systems then on whom will the responsibility of accountability and autonomous decision-making fall? We need laws and ethical practices to be enforced.

Regulatory Headache: Who will ensure that this high-tech does not fall in dangerous or irresponsible hands?
Job robbers: Due to the tremendous speed and capabilities of these systems, there is real danger of people being displaced from several jobs causing social upheaval!

Now the thing is, even as there is a lack of skilled professionals who can further enhance and build Quantum AI systems, there are very nervous whispers concerning this much-hyped marriage!
These systems will eventually hold so much information that they could become unimaginably intelligent and eventually start communicating with each other beyond our control! 

What if they communicate with each system globally and decide to take over our world? They disable the satellites, take over the internet, block all automation, and render every machine useless! Imagine your phones have sudden unknown masters and give away all your details! They disable the ‘Kill switch’ designed to stop them in an emergency! There is complete chaos! 

Humor me even if you think it won’t ever happen, but what if it does? We never thought we would carry supercomputers in our pockets just a few years ago and yet today we have them! 

So then, what will you do if all these systems turn against us? Do you have a plan? Or are you just sitting happily with your phone clicking your pictures enjoying the wedding? While the dreaded couple is merrily eating up all your data waiting for the opportune occasion to strike and then, don’t know about us, but only they might ‘Live Happily Ever After’!
 

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