Quantum Computing: Real Applications
The Machine That Doesn't Compute — It Gambles at the Speed of Physics
Quantum computers aren't faster versions of your laptop — they work by a completely different logic, one that makes certain problems they're built for dissolve almost instantly while leaving everything else untouched.
The Idea
Classical computers are deterministic: every bit is a 0 or a 1, every calculation follows a fixed path. Quantum computers operate on qubits, which exploit superposition — the ability to exist in a combination of states simultaneously — and entanglement, where qubits become correlated so that measuring one instantly determines the state of another, regardless of distance. The result isn't raw speed. It's a fundamentally different way of exploring a problem space. Think of it this way: a classical computer solving a maze tries one path, hits a dead end, backtracks, tries another. A quantum computer, in a sense, tries all paths at once — and then, through a carefully engineered interference pattern (like waves cancelling and amplifying each other), it suppresses the wrong answers and amplifies the right one. This makes quantum computers extraordinarily powerful for specific categories of problems: simulating molecular behaviour at the quantum level, optimising vast combinatorial systems, and — most urgently for the security world — factoring enormous numbers. That last one matters because most modern encryption relies on the fact that multiplying two large prime numbers is easy, but reversing the process is computationally brutal. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer would make that reversal trivial. The catch? Qubits are fragile. Even ambient heat or vibration collapses their quantum state — a problem called decoherence. Today's machines are noisy, error-prone, and require cooling to near absolute zero. Real, world-altering quantum advantage is close in some domains and still years away in others.
In the World
In 2023, a team at Google published results showing their quantum processor had performed a specific calculation in seconds that would take a classical supercomputer an estimated 47 years. The task itself was abstract — sampling from a quantum circuit — but the demonstration pointed toward something concrete: the era of quantum utility is beginning to arrive, not as a uniform frontier but in pockets. The most immediately actionable application isn't breaking encryption — it's chemistry. Pharmaceutical and materials science companies are watching this space with intense focus. Simulating how a molecule folds or how electrons interact in a new material is, for classical computers, an approximation at best. The calculations grow exponentially harder as the molecule gets larger. A quantum computer, built on the same physics that governs molecular behaviour, could simulate these interactions natively. Merck, Roche, and IBM have been collaborating on exactly this: using quantum hardware to model enzyme behaviour in search of drug candidates. The machines aren't yet powerful enough to outperform classical methods on practical drug design, but the trajectory is clear. Researchers at the University of Toronto used quantum-inspired algorithms in 2022 to identify protein-binding candidates significantly faster than conventional approaches. Meanwhile, the encryption concern is live enough that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology finalised its first post-quantum cryptographic standards in 2024 — algorithms designed to withstand quantum attacks. Governments and banks are already migrating. The threat isn't here yet, but the preparation cannot wait until it is.
Why It Matters
Quantum computing tends to get covered in one of two modes: breathless hype or dismissive 'it's still decades away' deflation. Neither is quite right, and understanding the actual shape of the technology helps you read the landscape more clearly. The near-term reality is this: quantum computers will not replace your devices or run your apps. But they will, within this decade, almost certainly transform drug discovery, materials science, logistics optimisation, and cryptography — industries that touch nearly every part of life. The encryption piece deserves particular attention. The data being encrypted today — financial records, health information, classified communications — could be harvested now and decrypted later once quantum capability arrives. This 'harvest now, decrypt later' strategy is already happening among sophisticated state actors. That makes post-quantum cryptography not a future problem but a present one, even if the computers themselves aren't yet powerful enough to crack anything. Knowing this gives you a more grounded frame when quantum stories appear in the news: ask not 'is this machine fast?' but 'what class of problem does this solve, and how far are we from that being practically useful?' That question separates the signal from the noise.
A Question to Ponder
If a technology is most dangerous not when it arrives but in the years just before it fully arrives — when defences haven't caught up but attacks are beginning — what other technologies might we be dangerously underprepared for right now?
Get a new one of these every morning.
Start learning with Thinkable