Oracle Machines and post-Quantum Computing

[DarkRange55]

I discuss this topic with my career physicist & mathematician friends and friends working in AI & machine learning research. Any thoughts on this topic?

 

[Yuki_03]

not in this career, but really interested.

just imagine the possibilities QM could provide us, multiple variables and bits within a really tiny transistor, maybe even a couple of atoms of size, could give us the possibilities of supercomputers.

however then we get to the problem of using this things. we need a lot of superexpensive and rare material, hard to use in day to day use, and will probably just get to use in labs and i dont think big companies would like to invest in such a long term investment.

 

[SexyIncél]

*facepalm* I thought "oracles" referred to that magic box in computation theory. (The equivalent of pretending you have Star Trek Warp Coils when designing a spacetravel engine.) But an "oracle function" means something different in quantum computing...

As a total outsider to quantum computing, I just have some thoughts from different perspectives:

• computation theory: it enables practical solutions to some innocent-looking classes of problems that bite people. "Durr, I'll just make optimal routes for bike messengers"
• user interface: the clearest explanations of new paradigms typically come from the Lisp community. So I stumbled upon Robert Smith's explanations:
  • Lisp, The Quantum Programmer's Choice
  • Quantum Instruction Set
• crypto: these people ride the lines of computational complexity classes. Naturally they're hyper-sensitive to changes. And the elites built so much financial/state infrastructure on it, that it gives them the heebie-jeebies. Especially since it takes a while for crypto algorithms to be baptized by fire

---

I like Robert Smith's approach — as he tweeted, the best way to understand this stuff is to play with programs. And Amazon's cloud supports processors from the company he worked for back then (Rigetti Computing)

But I haven't thought about quantum computing until yesterday, so ymmv

 

[CTB Dream]

No have but say ppl undrstmt clsc cmpt

 

[SexyIncél]

Investigated deeper. When you stalk employees of quantum computing companies, they're much more sober than the IBM/Google/etc hype. Guess everyone's conveniently forgetting the 1980's AI winter

Take reikonomusha's comment:

I agree with this. Unimaginable hype was mostly from those with an obvious incentive to raise money, to put themselves on a shortlist for a Nobel, and all that. Most of the ground-floor researchers and experimentalists have been extraordinarily realistic, though sometimes passive or quiet since there's an incentive to not bite the hand that feeds them.

It also doesn't help that the giant PR machines of IBM, Google, IonQ, et al. have been commanding the narrative. At this point you'd think transmons, ions, and atoms are the only commercially/at-scale interesting options. :)

Good thing I never spent any time on this before. Beware when tech industry says "10 years from now"

Nevertheless, jeezus! People sure start acting shocked when I mention I'm fucking with quantum computers. It'll be hilarious if I start using Amazon's quantum computers at the low-level "pulse" level

 

[Abandoned Character]

My pet theory is that Isaac Asimov prophesized our future when he wrote that "the last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light" (The Last Question). Come May 21, 2061, perhaps the US or China will successfully create the first superintelligent AI, spiraling humanity into the technological singularity. Beyond the singularity, it is impossible to say what life as a human would be. Perhaps we will end up in a similar situation to the conclusion of The Last Question. In the story, the last question appears to be "can entropy be reversed." I think Asimov asks the penultimate question. Perhaps the true last question, when humanity possess the power to recreate its own universe, we will ask the question not if entropy can be reversed, but if we should even be the ones to do it.

 

[DarkRange55]

My pet theory is that Isaac Asimov prophesized our future when he wrote that "the last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light" (The Last Question). Come May 21, 2061, perhaps the US or China will successfully create the first superintelligent AI, spiraling humanity into the technological singularity. Beyond the singularity, it is impossible to say what life as a human would be. Perhaps we will end up in a similar situation to the conclusion of The Last Question. In the story, the last question appears to be "can entropy be reversed." I think Asimov asks the penultimate question. Perhaps the true last question, when humanity possess the power to recreate its own universe, we will ask the question not if entropy can be reversed, but if we should even be the ones to do it.

Probably my favorite short story and my favorite science fiction author

 

[sserafim]

What should you learn to prepare for this age? And to develop technological literacy?