4 ms·
It is serious, but as I said, it's also vaguely defined. We can continue quibbling over details for decades to come. Suppose Google does slap on more qubits so
by knzhou 7y ago
It is serious, but as I said, it's also vaguely defined. We can continue quibbling over details for decades to come. Suppose Google does slap on more qubits so the time estimate goes up from 2.5 days to 25000 years. Is that quantum supremacy yet? Well, maybe if you used literally every classical computer in the world in parallel, and also used a very optimized algorithm, it would only take 2.5 years, which isn't that long if you're patient. So you could say that Google needs to slap on yet more qubits.
That's why arguing over whether it's really quantum supremacy is just not useful. People can always move the goalposts, so we might as well ban that word from discussion. The underlying fact, which nobody is debating, is that quantum computers are regularly doing tasks that are harder and harder for classical computers to.
And yes, the ECT is obviously false -- or at the very least, not obviously true. I'm surprised at how many CS people think it is some unassailable principle. Most CS courses devote precisely zero time to non-classical models of computation. If you've never studied a model of computation that could challenge ECT, then how can you be so sure of it? This is like being absolutely certain that I am the tallest person in the world, and refusing to ever leave my house to check.