The Industrial Revolution has changed numerous industries and reinvented the way of life for millions of individuals around the world. Humanity, on the verge of a second revolution of a caliber greater than that of the Industrial Revolution, is entering a new age: an age of quantum computers. Quantum computers are unbelievably fast, allowing them to accelerate computing processes exponentially. What is so great about this, and how can it revolutionize some of the largest industries in the world? Quantum computing is currently a multi-billion-dollar industry, and it is continuously growing, giving it an explosive potential for world-changing outcomes. Computing power doubles every 18 months, according to Moore’s Law, meaning computers develop exponentially, and quantum computers are no exception to this.

Exponential growth can be hard to grasp, but it’s explained well by Josh McHugh in his article “Around the World in 26 Steps." McHugh explains the difference between linear and exponential growth by asking you to imagine that you took 30 linear steps of one yard each. At the end of your journey, you’d be thirty yards away from where you began. Instead, if you took 30 exponential steps, you would walk 1,073,741,824 yards, which is equivalent to circling the Earth approximately 24.5 times. Exponential growth, while it appears to begin slowly, can speed up very quickly. In our trip around the Earth, our final step would circle the globe more than twelve times! This rapid advancement of quantum technology has the potential to influence innumerable industries, from medicine and research to business and banking. How can quantum computers influence our lives so broadly, what positive impact will they have on the world moving forward, and what are some possible negative outcomes of this change? 

A key reason why quantum computing has the potential to influence society at such a scale is due to our reliance on conventional computers. Computers have infiltrated every industry known today, and a substantial part of the modern economy and way of life depends solely on these machines. Computers run the world, and by having such influence, any major changes to them will also have that same amount of impact but to a greater degree. A prime example of this phenomenon is the unveiling of the iPhone. In 2007, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, revolutionized the computer by making it small enough to fit in your pocket, and today, almost nobody can last an hour without their phone. Because quantum computers are so much more powerful, they can speed up the core processes on which the world relies, and they possess the capability to do tremendously resource-intensive tasks. 

Unlike conventional computers, quantum computers operate using the direction of the spins of atoms, instead of just having an on and off switch, the technology running classical computers. The spins of these atoms have a range, so there are an infinite number of possible values for this spin, allowing quantum computers to process information immensely faster than classical computers. This is explained well by Michio Kaku, the author of Quantum Supremacy, where he describes that “you can have a state in which an atom spins up 10 percent of the time and spins down 90 percent of the time… In fact, there are an infinite number of ways an atom can spin."  A problem that would take today’s greatest supercomputer hundreds of years to solve could take just a few seconds for a quantum computer.

The processing capability of the quantum computer can also increase exponentially because of how it processes information. Quantum computers process information using qubits, which are the atoms described previously. Conventional computers use bits represented by a one or zero, which are similar to on and off switches. As explained by Michio Kaku, unlike the conventional bit, the charges of qubits all affect each other, meaning that with each qubit added, the rest of the system increases in power overall, allowing quantum computers to grow in ability exponentially. These computers also have the processing capacity to run highly sophisticated artificially intelligent programs at full efficiency. Quantum computers can run artificial intelligence to solve almost any problem known to man. Artificial intelligence is the brains, and quantum computing is the brawn. 

Quantum computing is going to be very influential, but how can it affect specific industries and what are some of the best uses of its abilities? Today, life is very data-driven, and almost every industry runs on data. In agriculture, it may be weather conditions and crop outputs; in stocks, it may be return on investment. Data are one of the most important aspects of modern society. Quantum computers compile those data and can produce an output extraordinarily faster than classical computers, revolutionizing complex and intricate fields of labor and study. Quantum computing has a lot of room to improve the field of medical research. Medicines are currently developed through a tedious process of testing and retesting chemical combinations, which can take months. Conventional computers don’t have the processing power to comprehend these massive and intricate systems of chemicals, so this is where quantum computing can truly revolutionize medicine. As explained by Michio Kaku, “quantum computers may offer insight into how we might develop better vaccines and antibiotics." Quantum computing can allow chemists to synthesize the medicines necessary for now-incurable diseases that ravage society without the need to execute the tedious process of trial and error.

The ability to simulate complex chemical constructions also has applications outside of medicine, namely batteries. According to Michio Kaku, “The key bottleneck for the Solar Age is often overlooked; it is the battery… [Batteries] are messy, using a collection of exotic chemicals in complex interplay." Clean ways of generating electricity are unsustainable due to the inefficient and chaotic structure of batteries. The quantum computer can fix these issues by generating the most energy-efficient compounds to maximize storage capacity and minimize energy leakage. By increasing the efficiency of batteries, cleaner electrical power could be introduced sustainably, possibly bringing an end to fossil fuels and giving rise to clean energy sources such as solar and wind power. The ability to process immense amounts of information can also be used in business and finances, again supported by Michio Kaku. Multiple different factors influence a corporation’s revenue, and a quantum computer has the brawn to compile and evaluate these factors to produce an outcome to maximize profits. Quantum computers can synthesize large amounts of data with haste, which will revolutionize worldwide industries, and these changes are right around the corner. 

While there are many positives to this technology, there are serious negatives that can’t be overlooked. For example, our reliance on cybersecurity is a serious issue that technological pioneers must discuss during the development of this technology. Cybersecurity, as the name suggests, is all about digital safety, which is indispensable to keep government documents confidential, company data private, and web accounts secure. Cybersecurity suffices to hold up against conventional computers, and it can take lots of time, sometimes even months or years, to hack an organization that takes extensive cybersecurity measures. Unfortunately, due to the sheer speed of quantum computers, virtually all of today’s cybersecurity may be invalidated, and people are ready to take advantage of this. Governments around the world are stockpiling encrypted messages and waiting for quantum decryption technology to get advanced enough to decode them. According to Forbes, “With the release of quantum computing into the public sector, all encryption becomes useless, and currently, the industry has no answer on how to deal with it." Quantum computers can crack any existing encryption today, and this is a Holy Grail for hackers and data thieves. With a quantum computer, anyone could access any private information from anywhere on Earth. 

Revolutions can be beneficial, but society must remember that they can also have drawbacks. While the Industrial Revolution brought many positives that are still in effect to this day, it also brought along negatives, such as, according to the History Channel, “the burning of fossil fuels [pumping] carbon dioxide into the atmosphere." This has fueled the rise of multiple global issues, such as climate change and global warming. Quantum computing is no exception to this phenomenon and, from some perspectives, it can have even more dire implications. The dangers of quantum technology must be taken into consideration during the process of developing it. 

Quantum computing, while it will greatly improve multiple industries and aspects of life, still has flaws. Regardless of these, the development of quantum computers will still be a definite net positive for the human race. These mighty machines will help cure currently incurable diseases and produce major leaps in environmentally safe energy. They can help companies calculate the best ways to generate profits, allowing for small business owners and company CEOs to further perfect their craft, possibly giving rise to entirely new professions. Our quantum future has the potential to completely remodel industries that are engrained in today’s society. Why does it have this influence? Humanity has so embraced computers that life today would be impossible without them. Any changes made to computers will affect society on a worldwide scale and create massive changes in how people live. Quantum computing can completely reinvent entire fields of labor and study to make them more efficient and beneficial, however, it would be a injustice to overlook this technology’s risks.