Read my latest “Ethics and Algorithms” newsletter on Substack.
Excerpts:
Hey there, future quantum enthusiast! Buckle up, because we’re about to take a wild ride into the world of quantum computing. Don’t worry if you’re more “I can barely program my TV” than “I build supercomputers for fun.” By the end of this article, you’ll be dropping quantum knowledge like a pro at your next dinner party.
As of 2024, we’re in what the cool kids call the NISQ era – Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum. It’s like when you first learn to ride a bike – we’ve got the basics down, but we’re still using training wheels and falling over a lot.Companies like IBM, Google, and even some plucky startups are making strides. Google even claimed “quantum supremacy” in 2019, which sounds like a supervillain plot but really just means they did something a regular computer couldn’t. It’s like beating your dad at arm wrestling for the first time – a big deal, but you’re not ready for the WWE yet.