There is an important overlap in some new technology which is coming
I wrote recently about some of the perhaps not immediately obvious aspects of 5G, a technology which is both hyped and underrated at the same time.5G is a much bigger deal than we think.
One area I feel more comfortable covering in my personal blog is the weird science aspects of technology. One such thing is the extension of 5G in to AI and then quantum computing.
5G will make phones cheaper and push a lot more activity to the cloud
Without rehashing the entirety of the article, it seems safe to say that 5G’s technical features, including near unlimited bandwidth and zero latency could cause a revolution in phones, the cloud and the services we use.
5G will connect things which have not previously been connected like buildings, cars and cows. There will be enormous data sets from every physical item on the planet.
Buses will tell us where people sat on their journeys. Bins will tell us the number of Kgs of rubbish they connected. Streetlights will tell us how many people and cars went under them. That data will be stored in the cloud. The only problem then becomes connecting the dots and interpreting these large amounts of information.
Quantum computing is nearly here – except for errors
The fundamental nature of Quantum Computing, the reason it’s so important and valuable is the speed with which it can conduct calculations. In practical terms, Quantum computers will conduct as many calculations as required immediately.
Reports suggest that Quantum computers will be made available on the internet for others to use. Importantly, the calculations they perform can, it seems, be kept private.
As of February 2018, IBM and Intel both have quantum computers with 50 (or thereabouts) Quibits, a ‘magic number’ at which it has previously been suggested, ‘quantum supremacy’ – when Quantum Computers can out perform classical computers. A more nuanced view suggests that error rates are high and could eliminate the usefulness of quantum computers altogether.
Now, overlap those ideas
To extract the value from the enormous data sets 5G produces and sends to the cloud, we’ll use AI. Clever software will look at the data sets looking for correlations which are valuable.
This is one recent article in the Independent which caught my attention.
Source : Drinking hot tea, smoking and alcohol.
It serves as an example of the sort of thing we might want to do in the future. Linking different studies – here, factors causing cancer – so people can moderate their behavior. The only problem is there will be so much data, finding a useful correlation could be difficult.
However, adding Quantum computing to the mix could speed things up dramatically.
Machine learning, the process behind AI works on a mathematical model called Back Propagation(BP). If quantum computers do become available in the cloud, it would be possible to use BP algorithms to almost instantaneously run through data sets finding useful indicators.
Neil Aitken - Blog 