The acclaimed tamper-proof ledger put wheels on blockchain taking it everywhere from healthcare to insurance . AI is the basis for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and now Libra.
But its open and versatile nature could perhaps be its undoing – in quantum computing there is a battering ram that could break the blockchain defences. That risk is palpable and the consequences dire.
Quantum computers can store more information using less energy than traditional computers, which means they can rapidly perform complex calculations.
Unlike normal computers, quantum machines can go down multiple paths simultaneously in their problem solving.
As a result, it is tens of thousands to millions of times faster than current computers – and more power means tasks such as breaking encryption becomes easier, potentially exposing critical data and sensitive information.
As early as 2016 attempts by a team from MIT + the University of Innsbruck led to a quantum computer that – they claim – if successfully scaled up – could break RSA encryption, a widely used algorithm .
This is the standard encryption. securing everything from text messages to eComm. Given this news, one can only imagine what’s happening in non academic ,commercial or intelligence establishments.
The blockchain is particularly vulnerable because it has a single point of failure .
Once breached , all the blocks are freely available for invasive appropriation from criminal mafias to undercover agencies to gather.
Today they are encrypted, hence secure. Once quantum computing gets cheap enough, there could be huge leaks of blockchain data that is potentially being secured into a captive reservoir now.
In 2018, Google unveiled Bristlecone, a chip with 72 qubits that the company believes could soon reach “quantum supremacy”, bringing mass-produced quantum computers to market.
The biggest locks on our doors are as safe as the key that gently turns and opens the treasure cave to those who seek fortune and more.
Now let’s look at the hype. Who is to assess the magnitude of the change that is upon us ?
Is blockchain an imminent reality that is commercially viable now?
We may soon realise that much of our excitement about this technology is overblown.
Every geek news encountered has AI in it.
Products and services are being "reinvented" with AI at their core.
There is huge investor interest in AI data plus intelligence means new solutions to problems. But who is judging if the AI being sold as nirvana is not some ready made algo slapped on existing data ?
Investments in these companies will grow when AI is made to work in a commercially scaled way. The return is when you turn a theoretically viable product into a commercially scalabale and safe one.
The question to ask the current AI hype builders is whether AI is ready for real-world robustness ?
The direction is set and the momentum is irreversible but the real magic will happen when early failure make the smart followers scale to commercial giant status.
We will live in an era of AI – risk and hype apart. That’s a certainty.