Submitted by Gari_305 t3_10g0v2j in Futurology
Comments
ernestwild t1_j53wgsj wrote
National security is the only reason China has dumped $15b into this
billtowson1982 t1_j540cqp wrote
Yes. Any tech China has pumped $15 billion into is a tech that will never be distributed equally.
Wuellig t1_j540fvy wrote
But it'll be good for the economy, didn't you see? The part where it says "Breakthroughs in quantum optimization could also be impactful to the financial sector (risk-analysis and financial portfolio optimization)."
The people who can afford quantum computers will be able to make the most money on the stock market.
Register as much surprise as that merits.
Amazing-Ad-669 t1_j54dbu9 wrote
That's a big flat line on surprise.
So you are telling me the rich get richer. With way better encryption too?
Yawn.
cydus t1_j4zzbvf wrote
No interest in wef crap. They are just a bunch of stupidly rich people pretending to give a damn while they all use their private jets to fly around the world constantly.
chameleondoesitagain t1_j523wd8 wrote
FACTS! But when you control the information then you control the minds so they will be pushing this agenda very hard of reddit and will be upvoted by their followers and bots.
Gari_305 OP t1_j4zwau0 wrote
From the Article
>While commercial quantum computers are still some years away, public and private entities around the world are already investing heavily in the race for a quantum advantage. As of January 2021, 17 countries have a national initiative or strategy to support quantum technology research and development; 3 have strategies under development while 12 other countries have significant government-funded or -endorsed initiatives. But more than 150 countries do not yet have a quantum strategy.
Also from the article
>Disparities in access to existing technologies have already created a digital divide: 2.9 billion people are still offline and do not benefit from the digital economy. Unequal access to quantum technology has negative geopolitical implications, putting those countries whose quantum programs are less developed in danger of falling further behind.
Aleyla t1_j506790 wrote
Of those 2.9 billion people - how many have ready access to clean water, education, steady supply of food, and housing that isn’t in a war zone? I would posit that these are far more important than being “online”.
We have a decently sized portion of humanity that is stuck in a cycle of violence - with little to no desire to get out of it. Unless they want to break out of the tribal mentality and start working together towards their betterment then the word “quantum” does nothing for them.
Eggsaladprincess t1_j51oes0 wrote
>with little to no desire to get out of it. Unless they want to break out of the tribal mentality and start working together towards their betterment
Ah yes. They are there because they want to be. /s
hobointhestairwell t1_j52b85e wrote
I had the same thought but I think they might be referring to the endless proxy wars perpetuated by world super powers in the third and developing worlds. It’s not so much the people of these statues by rather the “tribal” entities at the whim of super powers.
Still, a poorly worded summation.
freemyslobs1337 t1_j53622r wrote
No. They arent. Africa has serious tribal wars still going on. They are partially related to how they are treated by other countries BUT, they need to resolve these issues themselves. It isnt their fault per-se. Its kind of like a state wanting to secede, but way more problematic. Very different cultures exist in the same nations, and those nations often refuse to give those cultures lee-way, often even preferring genocide. That is a resource issue.
Basically, it is the same us vs them mentality that plagues us in the US, just a lot more extreme. It is individual cultures feeling like they deserve their own rule, and the nations they live in wanting all the resources, so fuck their feelings (instead of just allowing some level of autonomy for those cultures, but united in resources)
Prime_Galactic t1_j52jkn2 wrote
Many of the places you're talking about were completely fucked by colonialism. Africa and many third world countries are still having their wealth extracted by nations with more power and influence.
I think that we'd find Americans in the same circumstances as them would likely not act much differently. We have a huge theocratic facist base in the country that could hypothetically do more than an inept storming of the capital. Most Americans just have too much to lose to want to sacrifice themselves for their beliefs.
[deleted] t1_j536gb0 wrote
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katsumojo t1_j56da5t wrote
The problem with this statement is it places all of the fault on the people stuck in the cycle. Yes, they play a role BUT they are just making the best choices that are in place for them.
Imagine an example where Frank and Lisa are leaders of their respective population groups in the same country. When the war in Ukraine breaks out all grain supply is cut off to their country until a few months later when negotiations finally allow for a modest amount of grain to be exported to their country. It’s not as much as before the war and this instantly puts Frank and Lisa at odd’s. If Frank gets more grain, Lisa might try to negotiate but that would be fruitless because it’s not even enough grain for Frank. Next Lisa might resort to political/economic/social pressure. And if it get serious enough, Lisa’s people will demand war. They’re starving after all.
This is a dumbed down situation but this dynamic occurs in developing countries all over the world as a result of action without forethought by developed countries. Layer decades of this happening again and again and that’s how you end up with regional conflict zones.
Aleyla t1_j56htnj wrote
> Yes, they play a role BUT they are just making the best choices that are in place for them.
I think we are going to disagree on this. Often those leaders are making the best choices for them personally, not for the country the are running. Unfortunately this is a big part of human nature so the government that is put in place has to take that into account.
> This is a dumbed down situation but this dynamic occurs in developing countries all over the world as a result of action without forethought by developed countries.
A big part of being a leader is managing risks. Both internal and external. If Lisa and Frank are running a country and they aren’t actively trying to mitigate risks to their basic needs then what are they doing?
[deleted] t1_j53aicd wrote
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Cetun t1_j53yi52 wrote
It's hard to imagine that 2.9 billion have no access. In the 2000s Ethiopia had the most robust cellular network in Africa despite having no government. The reason was because of the lack of government banks couldn't really operate, but cellular companies physical infrastructure only really depended on cell towers. Cellular providers could be the middle men in international wire transfers. All you had to do was send a text and your cellular company could effectively become your bank.
In places with the least infrastructure it seemed there was the greatest incentive to provide the latest technology.
unskilledplay t1_j536znm wrote
I take issue with this. The biggest commercial and scientific benefit to quantum computing is listed as #2 in this list. Quantum computers can simulate quantum interactions more efficiently than silicon computers.
One of the uses would be the ability to predict properties of materials like metal alloys. A world where cheaper and superior materials are available for commercial use is beneficial to everyone, even if IP laws restrict who can produce these materials.
Another use would be to predict how molecules interact with the body. Sure, this will be a huge boon to Pharma, but again, the entire world wins.
On the whole, quantum advantage is projecting to be one of those "a rising tide lifts all boats" things, but that doesn't get clicks and comments.
digitecca t1_j53n932 wrote
This rising tide lifts the yachts while drowning the boatless. You really think that Pharma will benefit from quantum computing and pass those benefits off to society? This just further enables their stranglehold on the general public. Same for the IP laws you mentioned. Unless the technology is open sourced and accessible, the trickle down benefits you speak of are going to be small and take forever to reach. A competitive quantum market will only enable the rich to become richer.
I’d have better faith in this take if quantum computing was being discussed in a similar manner to the Covid vaccine: a necessity to be shared for the betterment of the human race. The fact that we’re already discussing an arms race of sorts tells me this will not be an altruistic development.
xXSpaceturdXx t1_j52z45i wrote
China is pumping insane amounts of money into this. why do I feel like they will be using it for nefarious purposes.
mymomisabastionmain t1_j5223ne wrote
Essentially this idiot of an author is saying: “hey, you see these people that do little to nothing for you? Give them free billion dollar information because it’s just.” How about you suck my left nut instead?
psibomber t1_j53xa1s wrote
It is not just it's the WE forum literally the people who are killing everyone, robbing everyone, and blaming you and me.
MonteroUruguayo t1_j522r1x wrote
I am curios to know more about the disparity in spending between the US and China? I assumed they would be neck and neck. Anyone have any thoughts?
butts_kapinsky t1_j52iv9q wrote
US has a lot of private funding. Lots of heavy hitters, Amazon, Microsoft, General Electric, the entire military industrial complex, are all either running their own initiatives or providing funding in partnership with quantum technology research institutions.
I_PUNT_BABIES_75 t1_j52o8m9 wrote
Aside from companies doing the heavy lifting over the fed for the advances US politicians genuinely know next to nothing about technology.
Remember the hearings where those morons interviewed social media heads, and Ted Cruz obviously not knowing what an algorithm is. Not bump that up to quantum computers they have no idea what they’re in for. China on the other hands actually listens to their tech and science experts and have put their money in the right place imo
Hentai_Yoshi t1_j53v5y2 wrote
Dude… no shit. Why did you even both to say that polticians don’t know anything about QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY. That’s like 99% of the population. It’s obviously the research scientists and engineers who work on this that know about it.
I_PUNT_BABIES_75 t1_j53vnmf wrote
Yeah the difference between the rest of the population and politicians is that the rest of the population doesn’t make decisions for the group that will effect all of us. And they don’t have money (paid for by taxes) to hire experts to give them dumbed down versions of it. Politicians do and need to listen to experts. They need to have more tech experts in DC that they will actually listen to.
AloofPenny t1_j51aun6 wrote
If you can connect them to the repo of human learning, maybe they could solve their problems themselves, instead of people running in fixing things that don’t need fixed
[deleted] t1_j523pnb wrote
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rambumriott t1_j5399c5 wrote
Hungary just casually leading the effort. love to see it
FuturologyBot t1_j4zzoym wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Gari_305:
From the Article
>While commercial quantum computers are still some years away, public and private entities around the world are already investing heavily in the race for a quantum advantage. As of January 2021, 17 countries have a national initiative or strategy to support quantum technology research and development; 3 have strategies under development while 12 other countries have significant government-funded or -endorsed initiatives. But more than 150 countries do not yet have a quantum strategy.
Also from the article
>Disparities in access to existing technologies have already created a digital divide: 2.9 billion people are still offline and do not benefit from the digital economy. Unequal access to quantum technology has negative geopolitical implications, putting those countries whose quantum programs are less developed in danger of falling further behind.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/10g0v2j/the_world_is_heading_for_a_quantum_divide_heres/j4zwau0/
[deleted] t1_j527k4u wrote
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Cryptizard t1_j57q3wf wrote
How can there be a divide when IBM puts their quantum computers in the cloud for anyone to use that can pay for it?
GoogleyEyedNopes t1_j524pwa wrote
Hard to imagine us achieving equity in quantum computing anytime soon. We're still failing to bring equitable internet access to a decent portion of the world. Fuck, clean water and access to electricity are still on the to-do list.
As for more developed nations; equality and information sharing are also going to be hard sells. There's a reason governments are funding research at the level they are. The Quantum computing race has serious national security implications. Access to the cutting edge is going to be akin to staying ahead in an arms race. To say nothing of the economic implications.