Quantum Computing Lectures: Are You Ready

We come to the most important topic of this discussion. Do you think the world is actually ready for quantum computing? You mentioned that we haven't reached quantum advantage yet. So they're not better than classical computers just yet. But imagine if we do reach quantum advantage say tomorrow or like a week from now or even six months from now. Do you think the world is ready for quantum computing? Will the companies around the world suddenly all be able to know how to use it, what to use it for? I think people are getting ready. I would say you better get ready because it's really a very dynamic environment. A lot of things are happening. The technology is developing very fast and different to classical computers the scaling behavior of quantum computers is also different. So, it's not like a linear scaling as we are used to in the normal transistor area but it's really scaling with a different behavior and so we expect that in 2023, there is kind of a turning point where then we can demonstrate quantum advantage. You are then better ready to use quantum computers. So, what does it mean using quantum computers?
You should have identified the areas where quantum computers can help you in your industry.
What are the biggest pain points, biggest challenges, where the fit with quantum computers. This requires and also of course that you have a workforce which has a team which knows a bit about quantum and can have the industry expertise and can then also together kind of identify these workloads. I think we are really in a dynamic world where you have to get ready because quantum computers are there and they will develop fast and then there's an advantage and you are better able to use.

Do you think more universities should be actively introducing quantum computing into their curricula? Maybe even on a high school level? Do you think we should do more in terms of education educating the future workforce in that regard? Of course, I mean there is much more to do. It's also an exciting  topic to learn about and it will have quite some impact in the future. So you are
better prepared for it. This means there are also different dimensions of course. At the universities, for example, and in research there is a really dramatic increase in using quantum computers and working on algorithms and so if you look around whether it's in Europe or U.S. and everywhere, the universities expand their programs in quantum computing, in the theory, and also using quantum computers there are extracurricular made for as I mentioned before not that only physicists learn about quantum computers but that also quantum computers how to program them how to use them is taught to engineers and chemists and even finance experts etc. So it's really broadening. This is what we see. We also develop actually quite a lot of tools and also programs where we help to bring together and to explain quantum computing, help people using quantum computers, show them how to program them you, can see for example YouTube videos where you can dive into detail and how to do it and also in collaboration with universities.

So that's the university level. Then if you go to that company level, it's again also in the end you want to also educate your workforce in quantum computing, you want to build up a team of experts that they can identify the use cases, and can also lay out a strategy for for making use and of the quantum advantage and integrating it. In the high school it's an interesting topic also because I personally think the earlier you kind of get in touch with this weird phenomena, the easier it may be for you to grasp it and to think like it right Zahra Ashktorab also said you think too classically.  I think the earlier we start to to see and visualize and experience quantum behavior, then the more an intuition we can get and having an intuition also helps to then actually become creative in that space. So I think learning early the way how to do it is of course different than how you do it after you may have studied a certain subject. But I think there are cool things I mean for example a colleague here he looks into quantum games. So using the quantum physics and exploring how to use quantum computers in games and that's also one way to kind of get in touch with it and be excited about it and then you know about it.