Quantum Computing: The Good, the Bad, the Mind Blowing

Quantum computing is one of the next big technologies that will transform the world. Less of a small step and more of a quantum leap in computing capability (and I promise that is the last bad joke in this article…. probably), it is a technology that has some pretty important implications. Though there is still a way to go until the technology is ready for commercial purposes, the idea has been around for longer than you would think. However, it is only now that we are beginning to see the work of the early theorists applied into more practical environments.[1] So in today’s article I am going to give a quick overview of the good, the bad and the mind blowing impact quantum computing could have on Unilever. This is proper mad science stuff y’all, so strap in.

Understanding Quantum Computing: We are going to need a cat for this bit…

The idea underpinning quantum computing is fairly straightforward to grasp, but let’s back up a bit and start with how computers currently work. At its most basic level, a modern computer runs on bits – 1’s and 0’s. A bit can be either a 1 or a 0. These bits can be strung together in long sequences to store and transmit all the information a computer processes. For example, a string of 8 bits (a byte) can be used to represent a single letter e.g. 01000001 = A. These strings of bits are what ultimately allow a computer to perform all of functions we know and love (playing videos, running Microsoft Excel etc.).

By contrast, a quantum computer makes use of ‘qubits’ – subatomic particles that thanks to the phenomenon of Superposition, can quite literally be in two places, or states, at once - here and there, up and down etc. However, once you measure the particle, it will stop being both and become one or the other. Think of Schrodinger’s famous thought experiment, wherein the cat in the box is simultaneously alive and dead until it is observed, and you get the gist of this idea.

The practical upshot of this is that unlike a regular old bit, a qubit can be both a 1 and a 0 at the same time. This means a single qubit string (connected together via quantum entanglement), can represent every possible combination of bit strings of the same length, at the same time. For example, a 4 qubit string simultaneously represents all 16 combinations possible of a 4 bit string (0001, 0111, 1010 etc.). So, whilst a normal computer would have to make up to 16 sequential checks to find the right value to guess a 4 bit string password, a quantum computer only needs to make one, able to test all 16 combinations at once. As you use bigger and bigger strings, so the calculating efficiency of quantum computing grows at an exponential rate. A fully entangled, 300 qubit long string could simultaneously perform more calculations than there are particles in the universe.

The Good

So how will quantum computers benefit Unilever? One way is probably database searching. A normal computer has to check each item in a database in sequence to see if it is the item requested by the searcher. For large databases this takes forever, as I’m sure many of us can attest. A quantum computer is able to check every single item at the same time, giving you the answer in a time which is an order of magnitude quicker for larger databases. This means it could be possible to keep substantially larger databases with more information without the database becoming unsearchable.[2]

Another benefit is the ability of Quantum computers to perform computational analysis on data sets that would be too big for a normal computer to handle within any reasonable timeframe (such as a human lifespan, let alone the lifetime of the universe). This could supercharge the People Data Centre initiative, or be used to better factor risk in financial models, calculate the ‘optimum’ supply chain route for a given product in seconds, or maybe even simulate the perfect advertising campaign. Perhaps most importantly, it could have enormous benefit for R&D capability. Quantum computing could allow for the creation of far more complex molecular simulations to discover new formulas, materials and greener manufacturing processes to improve Unilever product offerings (and again all within a timeframe where the phrase ‘return on investment’ still has meaning).[3]  

The Bad

Unfortunately, the raw computational power that is the selling point of a Quantum computer could also cause Unilever some serious trouble. The big problem increasingly talked about is the issue of cyber security. Modern encryption, the means by which data is kept private as it whizzes around cyber space, is based on encryption keys generated from factoring sums too complex for modern computers to reverse engineer in order to work out the decryption key (again, within a sensible timeframe).[4]

However, as we’ve previously established, the raw computational power of a quantum computer would be able to crack this in the blink of an eye. A calculation that would have taken a normal computer millions of years can be completed in mere minutes, maybe seconds. Quantum computers could very well mean the end of cyber security as we know it, necessitating the creation of a completely different solution. As Quantum computers come closer and closer to the market, Unilever will have to make sure it is investing in its cyber defences to keep its data safe and secure.

The Mind Blowing

Don’t give up hope just yet though, because it is possible that quantum computing itself could provide that new data protection solution, by exploiting another spooky aspect of quantum theory: Quantum Entanglement.[5] Pairs of sub-atomic particles can be bound together by this phenomenon, whereby they perfectly mirror each other exactly and instantaneously - if one is in the state ‘up’, the other is ‘down’. This applies no matter how far away they are separated by (theoretically, they could be at opposite ends of the universe).

Now in the long term this might possibly allow for faster than light communication, but this is not something that will impact Unilever until it decides to open a factory in the Andromeda Galaxy. In the shorter term quantum entanglement could be used to develop a new system of encryption, called Quantum Key Cryptography. Companies will be able to use streams of paired, entangled sub-atomic particles, such as photons, to create pairs of matching security keys to decrypt information.

The brilliant thing about this system is that any attempt to intercept this stream of entangled sub atomic particles means the sender and recipient will instantly know if someone has attempted to intercept the security key, whilst also rendering the intercepted security key unusable. This is because the intercepted particles will have been altered by the very process of being intercepted, and will therefore no longer match the particles in the other key.[6]

Get ready for the Quantum Age

So there you have it. Quantum computing is a pretty amazing technology and we have barely begun to explore what it might truly be capable of. Little by little this technology is starting to come online. China has been in the news recently for a series of quantum computing experiments, and is even reported to be building a prototype ‘quantum internet’.[7]

Other researchers are considering the implications of developing a quantum AI, which when activated might be able to mature itself to perfection within seconds, exploiting the power of quantum computing to design itself the perfect hardware, software and algorithms needed to achieve its objectives. Hopefully the AI will still like us at that point!

This is all still a little way off. The next step in the quantum computing journey will likely be an announcement that one of the current wave of prototypes is successfully operating as a true quantum computer. One thing is for sure though; this technology, either directly or indirectly, will have an enormous impact on Unilever, and probably sooner than we all think.

Matthew works in DACH Geo IT and wonders how the Business Service Centre can repair a type of computer that literally only works correctly when no one is looking at it.

A huge shout out to resident quantum mechanist Matt Brett for providing his scientific expertise to support on this article!

[1] https://www.dwavesys.com/quantum-computing

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhHMJCUmq28

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVv5OAR4Nik

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZghMPWGXexs

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dp27XYjHuk

[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyomwLbYhig

[7] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40565722