Moore’s Law, Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence
The Incredible rapid advance of technology
This is a quick diversion to a different topic but the rapid advance of technology is an important part of the issues of our times. The rapid advance of computer technology was predicted in 1975 by Gordon E. Moore, a founder of Intel. His prediction that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double every two years became known as Moore’s Law. In May 2021, IBM announced the creation of the first 2 nm computer chip, with parts supposedly being smaller than human DNA. It is nearly impossible to fathom, but today's chips can contain 100 million and more transistors per square millimeter, which is about the size of the head of a pin. With nanotechnology computer chips can now pack 30 billion transistors into a space the size of a fingernail. Since this approaches the atomic level, further advances in information processing will now be made primarily with quantum computing for hardware and artificial intelligence in software.
The Colossus Super Computer – The Tesla Space – YouTube – (3min video)
The best supercomputers today can handle a quintillion—that is, a billion billion—operations per second. By comparison, that is already 120 million times faster than that of the human brain.
Quantum Computing
Classical computers, which include smartphones and laptops, encode information in binary “bits” that can either be 0s or 1s. In a quantum computer, the basic unit of memory is a quantum bit or qubit. Qubits are made using physical systems, such as the spin of an electron or the orientation of a photon. These systems can be in many different arrangements all at once, a property known as quantum superposition. Qubits can also be inextricably linked together using a phenomenon called quantum entanglement. The result is that a series of qubits can represent different things simultaneously. For instance, eight bits is enough for a classical computer to represent any number between 0 and 255. But eight qubits is enough for a quantum computer to represent every number between 0 and 255 at the same time. A few hundred entangled qubits would be enough to represent more numbers than there are atoms in the universe. (NewScientist)
In December of 2024, Google stated in a blog post that a mathematical equation that would take a classical supercomputer longer than the whole history of the universe — 10 septillion years — to solve takes only five minutes using a quantum computer powered by its new chip, Willow. However, the technological challenges to be overcome yet are daunting and there is a major debate about when quantum computing might become practical.
Jenson Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, recently estimated that very useful quantum computers probably would not be available for 20 years. Peter Chapman, the chairman and CEO of the quantum computing company IONQ, on the other hand, has estimated that the company will be profitable, with sales approaching $1 billion, by 2030.
The IonQ's technology link describes the extraordinary processes involved in using charged atoms (ions) as qubits. Working at this atomic level also requires cryogenic refrigeration which can cool superconducting qubits to within thousandths of a degree above absolute zero to provide an ultracold, dark, and quiet environment for operation. The process is also done in a vacuum.
The Most Baffling Idea in Physics, Explained – PBS NOVA (3 min video)
Quantum entanglement defies our everyday understanding of reality.
Artificial Intelligence
I’ve experienced the next era of AI, and I’m never going back — Digital Trends by Nadeem Sarwar January 20, 2025
A fundamental rethinking of search on the internet: just what you want, from the sources you seek.
Elon Musk Just Made Bonkers New Predictions – YouTube (First 14 minutes)
Basically, the accumulated sum of human knowledge (all of the internet, all of the books ever written and all of the interesting videos) has now been exhausted in the training of Artificial Intelligence. The future of self-driving cars, humanoid robots, brain technology communication, and the colonization of Mars are discussed.