If you¡¯ve never seen a quantum computer, you should look it up. It looks like an intricate piece of an art exhibit, far removed from anything our brains would categorize as a computer. The words ¡®quantum computing¡¯ sound way too sci-fi before you even finish speaking or reading them completely. A way of computing so advanced it¡¯s seemingly indistinguishable from magic, a radical new notion on the frontlines of tech-fuelled innovation. Quantum computing¡¯s difficult to understand, even more difficult to explain you¡¯d think, until you have a chat with IBM¡¯s Dario Gil.
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¡°Those two words were written together for the very first time by IBM Fellow Charles Bennett who was interested in finding out the relationship between physics and information,¡± says Dr Dario Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research. He explained how IBM Research has been involved in quantum information science since the 1970s and quantum computing hardware level experiments for over 20 years.?
¡°In May, 2016, we were the first company in the world that built a small quantum computer ¨C a five qubit machine at the time ¨C and we made it universally available through the cloud. Since then, we have built over 30 quantum computers and at this very moment we have over 20 quantum computers deployed on the IBM cloud, and on any given day 3.5 billion quantum circuits are run on our actual quantum hardware. We run more quantum computers than the rest of the world combined,¡± according to Dario Gil.
We have over half a million registrants for quantum computing, over 3 million students engaging with us on this topic in education and academia, and over 180 institutions have signed agreements with IBM ¨C including some of the largest companies from the world of finance and automotive manufacturers,¡± Dario emphasizes, as he gives some sense of perspective on just how promising quantum computing has become over the last five years.?
¡°Reputed universities from all over the world, national laboratories, startups of all shapes and sizes, they're all part of it. It¡¯s not a question of when, categorically, but the quantum computing industry already exists,¡± argues Dario, explaining how it¡¯s already had a huge impact on research and development. ¡°As soon as we put all these disparate ecosystems of IBM quantum computers on the cloud, over 800 scientific papers have been published using our quantum computers. Quantum is already a reality where national policies are committing tens of billions of dollars,¡± he says.
That¡¯s part of Dario Gil¡¯s India trip agenda. He¡¯s meeting with Indian government representatives to discuss the future roadmap of enabling quantum computing. ¡°India has ambitious plans for quantum computing and it¡¯s investing significant resources into developing and implementing a national quantum strategy,¡± says Dario Gil. ¡°And since I've had the good fortune of being involved with this industry since its founding, and experience of how these plans get developed in different countries like Germany, Japan and South Korea, it was an opportunity to exchange some views and share insights with the Indian government on how quantum can enable successful industries.¡±
Dario likes to juxtapose the rise of classical computing in the last century against how quantum computing will progress in the future, and IBM¡¯s unique approach to quantum vis-a-vis other quantum computing players out there (like Google and Intel).
¡°If you look at the history of computing, when it began in the 1940s with a very specific context with respect to Bletchley Park and code breaking during World War II, it later evolved to processing payroll and accounting at the government level and huge corporations,¡± explains Dario, highlighting how progressively computers got better as time went by. ¡°Over the last 50-60 years, as computing got better and cheaper, it diffused through society. As more people got into computing, new use cases emerged for it. And pretty soon you were doing gaming and entertainment and all sorts of things that we all know and love today.¡±
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¡°Our philosophy at IBM is that quantum computing¡¯s going to develop in a similar fashion,¡± Dario says emphatically. ¡°There's a camp in quantum computing that basically says there's no value to be created until there is this perfect quantum computer, known as a fault tolerant quantum computer. And while that's going to be a world changing event, no doubt, that camp basically thinks we should all lock ourselves in a lab for 20-30 years until that eureka moment happens. In contrast, our process here at IBM is a lot more agile, through open environments, building communities and deploying quantum enablement in the cloud.¡±
Dario believes while we won¡¯t have a quantum PC or laptop anytime soon, the cloud experience of quantum computing is increasingly going to be the first invisible touchpoint of this computing revolution for developers and ultimately end users.?
¡°Most people already understand that your experience of what you can do with computers and mobile phones is a combination of the local on-device capability and the remote processing in the cloud. So when quantum computers become a permanent part of this landscape of computing, people will experience things getting better,¡± envisions Dario.?
¡°So for example, we will electrify transportation, cars will get smarter, our batteries will last longer and safer as we solve crucial material science challenges. We will discover new materials for building semiconductors and chips, and design better fertilizer for agriculture, and everything in between. If you peel away the layer of technological progress in the coming years, you will find quantum computing in there as an important enabler of our collective human advancement. So I am very optimistic about the ultimate potential of quantum computing. However, it won¡¯t feel like you just bought a quantum computer as your new laptop to work from home or office just yet, even though you will experience the power of quantum computing behind-the-scenes in how the world works,¡± emphasizes Dario.
Despite all the unbridled optimism from IBM's Dario Gil on the ultimate promise of quantum computing, he understands some of the concerns around irresponsible, wanton technological advancements and how they can complicate our future. I ask him to explain how quantum computing will learn from some of the missteps of classical computing and ensure how all of humankind can truly benefit from it.
¡°We are all excited about all the good things we can do with technology, but they directly impact on so many dimensions of individuals, groups, and nations around the world. So what do you do about it?¡± asks Dario Gil, while touching upon the topic of governance of science and technology. He highlights how IBM handles these issues related to tech and AI advancements specifically through an ethics board. ¡°It is a group of leaders that represents diverse perspectives. We have lawyers and engineers, economists and architects, to name just a few, who actively deliberate on some of the more thorny issues of emerging tech,¡± Dario explains, making his point with the example of facial recognition technology.?
¡°IBM was well known for being the first large technology company to say we will no longer sell facial recognition technology in the absence of well-structured regulation to put them to good use,¡± he remembers. ¡°We appreciate the fact that facial recognition can be wonderful to expedite airport check-ins, but we understand it's also very problematic in surveillance and policing around the world. If the regulation around the use of facial recognition tech isn¡¯t structured properly, it can lead to all sorts of human rights and civil rights abuses, so we made a decision based on intense internal deliberation on the topic,¡± Dario explains.
Dario Gil understands the nuances of how science and technology impact humanity at scale, that despite our best intentions emerging tech can¡¯t look at things in black and white. There are multiple shades and layers of how each new step of emerging tech like quantum computing can have a positive or negative effect on all of us. ¡°So in the United States, I serve on the National Science Board that oversees the National Science Foundation, which supports a lot of the basic science work in the United States. And the reason to engage with the government is because we all have a responsibility ¨C academia, industry and government ¨C to work together.¡±
¡°If IBM does one thing better than most other tech companies is the fact that we bring technology and skilled people together in an environment of trust and responsibility,¡± underscores Dario. ¡°We don¡¯t have a laissez-faire approach to technology, we never take the position of just creating stuff that eventually breaks things for the worse. Our ethos has always been that we have a responsibility as creators of technology to make sure they get managed and deployed in a way that serves progress in society.¡±
As I run out of my prepared questions towards the end of my interview, I ask Dario if there¡¯s anything about the potential use of quantum computing that keeps him up at night, something that is a personal challenge motivating him as he navigates arguably one of the most important periods in the history of computing. His response gives me another insight into his personal drive and resolve.
¡°How much of a difference did it make to all of us in the world, if a COVID-19 vaccine could be developed in one year instead of the 12-14 year average it takes to develop a vaccine? It literally changed our lives. So our ability to accelerate what used to take 10 years and do it in one or 40 years and to do it in four can have such profound implications to some of the biggest challenges we face is what fills me with profound hope and aspirations related to quantum computing,¡± says Dario Gil, underscoring how emerging technologies like quantum can compress the cycle of discovery and application in our quest to discover new materials.
In terms of describing what keeps him up at night, Dario Gil tells me what Nobel Prize winning Princeton University psychologist and behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman told him once. ¡°Kahneman said to me everybody worries about AI taking over people¡¯s lives, but my biggest concern isn¡¯t that it won¡¯t happen but that humanity will take too long to get there,¡± Dario recounts. On the surface it may sound like a disturbing thought, but its central essence is all about the speed of innovation to solve humanity¡¯s most urgent problems.?
¡°We have so many challenges in extending the abilities of humans solving problems, the biggest one of which is related to fundamentally accelerating our ability to solve problems faster,¡± summarizes Dario, because that¡¯s what quantum computing is all about ¨C it¡¯s an unprecedented shot in the arm of entire humanity and our ability to innovate faster.?
¡°What I worry about sometimes is that as impressive as the rate of progress we have seen around technology in the recent past, if we do not succeed in improving our speed of innovation then some of these big challenges may be too overwhelming for humans to solve. Innovations like quantum computing we have to channel with care and consideration, because we're going to need every help we can get from these emerging technologies to solve everything from climate change to sustainability and beyond,¡± says Dario Gil.
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