Coast to Coast - 2023-05-18 - Michio Kaku - Quantum Computing

Quantum Computing

Hosted by
George Noory

Guests:
Michio Kaku

May 18, 2023

Michio Kaku is a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York and co-founder of string field theory. In the first half, he discussed humanity's next great technological achievement —quantum computing— which may eventually illuminate the deepest mysteries of science and solve some of humanity's biggest problems. The new revolution in quantum computing harnesses the power of the atomic realm, and in the coming years, will likely replace the traditional silicon microchip, which has reached the end of Moore's Law (chips growing smaller and more powerful every year). Computers that compute on individual atoms already exist, said Kaku, and in these early stages, engineers in China and at Google were able to beat a digital computer by a factor of several million times with their faster quantum set-up.

Many sectors will be affected or revolutionized by the switch to quantum computing. For example, developing nuclear fusion reactors that create clean, renewable energy without radioactive waste or threats of meltdown may finally be possible. Medicine is another field that will see radical improvements, he enthused, with new ways to detect cancer well in advance of tumors actually forming. Further, quantum computing could spot diseases at the molecular level like Alzheimer's, ALS, and Parkinson's, as well as offer solutions to issues around aging, he continued. The downside to this powerful technology, Kaku revealed, is that quantum computers could break any digital code-- so we will need to retool our security apparatus. He also commented on the rise of AI chatbots, noting that they are akin to tape recorders, repeating information in different ways that was previously published on the Internet.