No Brakes

(Graphic from University of Cambridge)

Discoveries are generally greeted with cheer, but, if the invention is powerful enough the reaction is often fear (for example, Oppenheimer's reaction when he witnessed the destructive force of the first nuclear explosion).

We may be facing such a turning point in history with the development of artificial intelligence, married with the speed of quantum computing. To this humble blogger it's not at all comforting that the leader in quantum computing is Google, possessor of one of the largest data troves on individual behavior.

In a small lab outside Santa Barbara, Calif., stocked with surfboards, wetsuits and acoustic guitars, [physicist Hartmut] Neven and two dozen Google physicists and engineers are harnessing quantum mechanics to build a computer of potentially astonishing power. A reliable, large-scale quantum computer could transform industries from AI to chemistry, accelerating machine learning and engineering new materials, chemicals and drugs.

“If this works, it will change the world and how things are done,” says physicist Vijay Pande, a partner at Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, which has funded quantum-computing start-up Rigetti Computing.

Two years ago Google changed its corporate motto from "Don't be evil" to "Do the right thing." Two comments: 1) the history of the world is replete with villains--even mass murderers--who thought they were doing the right thing. 2) I much prefer an ethic of restraint--not to do evil--than one that purports to guide the powerful, for who really will tell them what they're doing is wrong?

It's a new generation who may not be familiar with Lord Acton:

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely