A “classical” computer can represent data as either a one or a zero, whereas a quantum computer can represent data as a one and a zero at the same time. This speeds things up a bit. Google claims their quantum computer – “Sycamore” – solved a problem in 200 seconds that a supercomputer would have needed 10,000 years for.
That’s “quantum supremacy”, and it heralds that we’ve entered a new age of technology.
“Quantum physics are the set of rules that govern how microscopic particles such as atoms behave, and these rules are very different than the ‘classical’ rules of logic that apply to the everyday world,” Professor Stephen Bartlett told Investor Daily.
The advent of quantum computing has a range of potential benefits and risks for finance.
A quantum computer would be enormously useful for modelling risk due to its ability to analyse colossal amounts of data extremely quickly. It would need substantially less inputs than a traditional Monte Carlo simulation, and could analyse them faster.
A quantum computer combined with machine learning principles would also be able to detect instances of fraud, trafficking, and money laundering much faster than a human or its classical computing counterpart.
A firm that possessed quantum computing capabilities would have a substantial advantage over its competitors.
However, quantum computing comes with risks.
Chief among the risks is the prospect that cyber attacks will become orders of magnitude more sophisticated and dangerous.
Classical encryption would be no match for a quantum computer capable of simulating nearly every password in existence at the same time. This will require the creation of quantum-safe cryptography before standardisation of quantum computers.
At a time when many banks still use legacy information systems that are outdated by today’s standards, the standardisation of quantum computing is a challenge they aren’t equipped to face.
“A computer that’s entirely built following these quantum rules can do new types of logic and computations that are just not accessible, or even describable, in everyday terms,” said Professor Bartlett, who is also a member of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems.
“We will likely see a range of potentially ‘useful’ quantum computing devices in the coming three to five years,” he said.
