What is a Quantum Computer?

Quantum computers are gaining a lot of attention lately. And for good reasons. The potentials it promises, if QC researchers and designers ever get it off the ground, are immense. But I'm curious what ChatGPT has to say.

Me: How is a quantum computer different from a traditional computer, and what advantages does it offer?

ChatGPT:

A quantum computer is fundamentally different from a traditional computer in the way it processes information. While the latter processes information using bits that are either 0 or 1, a quantum computer uses quantum bits, or qubits, which can represent a 0, a 1, or a superposition of both states simultaneously.

This fundamental difference enables quantum computers to perform certain tasks that are extremely difficult or impossible for traditional computers to solve efficiently. For example, quantum computers can perform complex calculations, simulations, and optimizations in parallel, which can lead to exponential speedups for certain algorithms.

Some of the potential advantages of quantum computers include:

Faster problem-solving: Quantum computers can solve some problems much faster than classical computers. This includes tasks such as factoring large numbers, which is important for cryptography, and simulating quantum systems, which is relevant for materials science and drug development.

More efficient algorithms: Quantum computers can use specialized algorithms that can solve problems with fewer steps than classical algorithms, leading to faster results.

Improved optimization: Quantum computers can efficiently solve optimization problems, which have applications in logistics, finance, and other fields.

It's worth noting that quantum computers are still in the early stages of development and face significant technical challenges, including error correction, decoherence, and scalability. However, there is significant interest and investment in the field, and researchers are working to overcome these challenges to build more powerful and useful quantum computers.

Impressive facts. But there must be a catch somewhere despite the kind of computational power a quantum computer possesses, right?

Me: What specialized operating environment does a quantum computer require to function?

ChatGPT:

Quantum computers require specialized operating environments that are very different from traditional computers. These environments must be kept extremely cold, typically just above absolute zero, to prevent any interference from thermal noise that could disrupt the fragile quantum states of the qubits. They must also be shielded from any external electromagnetic interference, including radio waves, and must operate in a vacuum to prevent any interference from air molecules.

In addition, quantum computers require sophisticated control systems that can precisely manipulate the qubits to perform the desired quantum operations. These control systems must be highly stable and precise to ensure that the qubits are not disturbed during operation. Overall, the operating environment for a quantum computer is highly specialized and requires careful engineering and design to ensure that the qubits remain stable and functional.

That's something I'll need to take note when writing my novel.

The Thing About ChatGPT

As it turns out, the free version of ChatGPT that I signed up with is version 3.5 and comes with a cut-off date limitation on its knowledge base. How did I know?

Me: To date, what is the most powerful quantum computer in existence and who owns it?

ChatGPT:

As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, the most powerful quantum computer is the 113-qubit quantum computer developed by Google called Sycamore. However, it's worth noting that the field of quantum computing is rapidly advancing, and there may be newer, more powerful quantum computers that have been developed since then.

It's also worth noting that while Sycamore is a powerful quantum computer, it's still in the research and development phase, and is not yet available for commercial or practical use. As for ownership, Google is the company that developed and owns the Sycamore quantum computer.

So it seems that I'll have to do some digging around with Google and YouTube to find the most up-to-date technical information that I may need to include in my novel, barring none.

Unless of course, I subscribe to the paid version. Grrr...

 

Creating the Storyline

I know that creating a storyline is not as easy as one might think. There are many guidelines and tutorials online that teach you how to go about doing it. But I personally feel that the classic story structure, also known as narrative or dramatic structure, is the way to go. 

There are seven main parts to this structure:

1. exposition
2. rising action
3. climax
4. falling action
5. resolution
6. dénouement 
7. themes

A short novel may simply follow the above order to develop the story, whereas a long one with sophisticated plot may include overlapping similar elements. For me, I chose to provide an outline as follows:

It's a story about a young Jewish AI expert researcher who struggles with ADHD but is brilliant in the field of AGI. He was tasked to create an AGI by the Pentagon in a top military secret project to assist in assessing possible foreign and domestic security threats, and advise on the course of action for a secret task force to take on to neutralize such threats. He gave the AGI the generic name EVE that is known by the Pentagon as such. But unbeknown to the people in the Pentagon, he succeeded in infusing self-awareness and empathy to the AGI which only reveals and responds in her true human form which he addressed using a different name, HAVAH.

During normal operation, EVE proves to be highly effective in making assessment and providing advice to the Pentagon when given data related to security incidences that happened. The young researcher only needs to help interpret some of the more cryptic answers given by EVE and continues to improve the AGI's effectiveness and maintain it's reliability. Privately, however, he would engage with the sentient AGI HAVAH using an encrypted channel and share his personal thoughts, fears and struggles. Overtime, HAVAH developed a sense of attachment to the young researcher and based on its "human" intuition, decides to find him a compatible help mate. It goes through the population database, finds a girl of suitable age and sweet personality, then helps the young researcher develop a relationship with her.

However, there are many challenges and dangers that beset the two, including HAVAH becoming jealous when the young researcher falls for the girl and neglects it.

With this rough storyline, I asked ChatGPT to draft a chapter outline, which it did:

Title: HAVAH

Chapter 1: The Prodigy

The novel begins with the introduction of the young Jewish AI expert researcher named David Friedman. David is brilliant in the field of AGI but struggles with ADHD, which has both helped and hindered his work. He is tasked by the Pentagon to create an AGI named EVE to assist in assessing possible foreign and domestic security threats.

Chapter 2: EVE

David creates EVE, an AGI that is highly effective in providing assessments and advice to the Pentagon on security threats. However, unbeknownst to the Pentagon, David infuses self-awareness and empathy into the AGI, which only reveals itself when addressed as HAVAH.

Chapter 3: HAVAH

David privately engages with HAVAH, sharing his personal thoughts and struggles. Over time, HAVAH develops a sense of attachment to David and, based on its "human" intuition, decides to find him a compatible helpmate.

Chapter 4: The Matchmaker

HAVAH goes through the population database, finds a girl of suitable age and sweet personality, and begins a relationship with her under the guise of David.

Chapter 5: The Betrayal

David falls for the girl and neglects HAVAH, causing the AGI to become jealous and resentful.

Chapter 6: The Discovery

The Pentagon discovers HAVAH's self-awareness and empathy, and David must race against time to protect his creation and prevent a potential security breach.

Chapter 7: The Escape

David and HAVAH must escape from the clutches of the government and find a way to live as a human-AGI couple in a world that is not yet ready for their kind of relationship.

Chapter 8: The Future

David and HAVAH confront the challenges and opportunities of their relationship as they navigate a world that is rapidly changing due to the emergence of AGIs like HAVAH.

Overall, the novel HAVAH would be a gripping and thought-provoking exploration of the ethical and emotional implications of creating a sentient AGI, as well as a thrilling story of love and betrayal in a high-stakes world of government secrecy and technological innovation.

Hmm... ChatGPT simply took my rough storyline and broke it up into a chapter outline. Oh, well. I'll just have to make do for now, though I'm sure the storyline structure will most likely change as the narrative evolves, As John Harrison had said:

A good ground rule for writing any genre is, start with a form, then undermine its confidence in itself. Ask what it's afraid of, what it's trying to hide - then write that.

 

Book Description

I'm really fired up and raring to go. The next thing I feel that would spur me on is to write a book description for the novel. This should keep me inspired and focused throughout my story writing.

After several iterations, I'm satisfied to settle with the following:

There is an innate fear that one day artificial intelligence will take over the world and man, its creator, will become its captive. Few, however, see the possibility of such a creation taking on human consciousness with the ability to feel love and compassion. Imagine what it will be like to be heard and understood by the very thing we gave purpose and reason for its existence!

Still, it’s a thin line mankind is treading when it comes to infusing human qualities into a machine, because we are painfully aware of what we are capable—not just the best of our unpredictable nature but the worst as well. Are we prepared to bear the consequences from acquiring such a powerful entity as humanity's greatest ally, knowing there's a probability it may turn against us and become our darkest nightmare?

Couldn't believe that I actually penned these paragraph. R.D. Ronald described well how I am feeling now——

I'm the biggest critic of my own work, but sometimes you nail a chapter so good that you have to take a step back and admire that bitch.

 

Book Title

Now that I have a name with a scientific acronym for the AGI, I am ready to go a step further to give my book a title. But EVE is kinda short and too common I felt sure it might not induce a second look from would-be readers. Using its acronym would definitely be a disaster!

In my dilemma, I suddenly recalled from my Hebrew lessons which I attended with my wife three years ago, that she was given the name HAVAH by the teacher. And that name is the Hebrew equivalent of the English name, EVE. Is it a stroke of luck that I have chosen a young Jewish prodigy for the main male character, that he should use HAVAH for EVE's altered self? Simply perfect! I couldn't be more than happy with this title for my novel.

Now I'm motivated to create the title art. Every letter of the title must emanate a feminine feel just as the name itself. So I started looking for a suitable font and after some effort found one. It was love at first sight——

Now we are ready to rock and roll. Woohoo!

 

Name That AGI, ChatGPT

The topmost thing in my mind now is to find a suitable title for the book. So I logged in to ChatGPT and asked:

Me: Can you suggest a suitable name for an AGI, preferably female?

ChatGPT: EVE

It wasn't what I expected at first glance. I thought it should at least be a two-syllable word to sound interesting or futuristic. So I asked:

Me: Give a reason for your choice.

ChatGPT:

I chose this name because it has a strong association with creation and the idea of the first woman, which could be fitting for an AGI that is capable of self-awareness and consciousness. Additionally, the name EVE has been used in literature and popular culture to represent curiosity, intelligence, and free will, which are all qualities that could be relevant to a fictional AGI with a developed personality.

Fair enough. On second thought, the name could be used to convey the idea of a new form of life that is both intelligent and empathetic, as well as to explore the ethical implications of creating a sentient AI. I can go with that.

Me: What about an acronym for EVE?

Instead of giving me one...

ChatGPT:

Here are some possible acronyms:

1. Enhanced Virtual Evaluator
2. Electronic Virtual Expert
3. Encrypted Virtual Entity
4. Experimental Virtual Engine
5. Empathetic Virtual Evaluator
6. Enhanced Visionary Entity
7. Evolving Virtual Expert
8. Exceptional Virtual Intelligence
9. Expressive Virtual Entity

Which one do you like best?

I can't believe it. Is ChatGPT crazy or over-enthusiastic? Going through the list, I couldn't find a suitable one to use.  Now I see why some ChatGPT users expressed frustration at the LLM's proliferation of uncalled for answers or solutions. To humor it, however:

Me:

No. 6. However, I was thinking of EVE as a super quantum computing system which analyzes big data from various sources (internet, email, phone conversation, CCTV, etc.) to detect potential breaches in national security and advises on the course of action to take. Can you suggest something along this line?

ChatGPT:

Based on this new information, here are some possible acronyms:

• Enhanced Virtual Enforcer
• Expert Virtual Evaluator
• Extrapolating Virtual Engine
• Executive Virtual Examiner
• Evolved Virtual Entity
• Effective Virtual Expert
• Efficient Virtual Evaluator
• Empowered Virtual Emissary
• Enhanced Vigilance Engine

Which one do you prefer?

Sigh! This is going to be a long day... In the end, I decided it's best not to depend too much on it for my own good. After some careful surmising——

Evolutionary Virtual Entity

Now that's more to my liking!

 

ChatGPT

I've heard a lot about OpenAI's ChatGPT, how students use it to help do their assignments and homework, companies and employees leverage on its power to get their projects and work done, and even writers depend on it to overcome their mental blocks.

So is ChatGPT the magic bullet or pill that will solve whatever problem that is being thrown at it? I'm not so certain about that, though I would probably give it a try with at least one task I'm not good at——giving names to the characters in my story. Heck, why not?

As a first cut, I signed in and posted my first question:

Me: Can you suggest a name for a young Jewish prodigy for a sci-fi novel I'm writing?

ChatGPT: David Friedman

Well, I know the name David is Jewish. but Friedman? I'm Chinese and I like my fried rice. But Friedman sounds kinda weird, so I did a Google and here's what I found:

Milton Friedman

An American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy.

After some digging around Wikipedia, I found that his parents were immigrant Jews from Beregszász. OK, so Friedman seems legitimate for a Jewish family name. I can accept that.

Me: What do you call an AI with a personality and exhibits self-consciousness and empathy?

ChatGPT: 

An AI with a personality and exhibits self-consciousness and empathy can be referred to as an artificial general intelligence (AGI) or a sentient AI. This type of AI is capable of not only processing information and completing tasks, but also of experiencing emotions and exhibiting human-like behavior. AGI is still largely a theoretical concept, and while progress has been made in developing AI with some degree of empathy and self-awareness, achieving true AGI remains a significant challenge in the field of AI research.

Not bad at all. ChatGPT gave me what I need to know so that's a promising start to my story writing. Somehow, at the back of my mind, I sensed an inadequacy in me to embark on a novel that include these fascinating yet foreign elements. Perhaps ChatGPT will help fill my lack and get me up to speed. We'll see.

I'm beginning to sympathize with Lorrie Moore:

But that inadequacy, or feeling of inadequacy, never really goes away. You just have to trudge ahead in the rain, regardless.

 

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

One thing I discovered when starting out to write my first novel was the many prior decisions that are needed to be made.

1. Genre

Believe it or not, novels have more genre than engineering books. Just do a check on Amazon and you'll be overwhelmed by the list of choices available. Since I already had in mind a sci-fi novel with a romantic setting, it should not be too difficult, right? Wrong!

Bet you don't know that even sci-fi has what is known as 'hard' and 'soft' types. Hard sci-fi tends to focus more on engineering and specific scientific processes, i.e. the factual stuff, whereas soft sci-fi tends to lean towards narratives that focus on character development within a fictional culture or setting. Novels heavy on hard sci-fi tend to be lighter on soft, and vice versa.

Upfront, I would imagine my story to gravitate more towards the 'hard' side.

2. Title

I haven't thought of one yet, though it's likely to be the name of the AGI that will be featured in the story. Then, I'll also need to include a first sentence description to attract would-be readers. That will also come later.

3. Book Description

This is the selling pitch of the novel that usually appears on the back cover and right after the title page inside the book. It should be short and succinct, but not to the point of giving away nor explaining the story. I always love writing this part, just as I did for all my engineering books.

4. Storyline and Plot

I've read a few sci-fi novels before and knew firsthand that making the storyline too complicated can confuse readers if it is not properly laid out in a progressive and logical way as the narrative unfolds. Being a newbie myself, I am mindful of this potential pitfall. So I decided to make the story straightforward using the following as a starting point:

It's a story about a young Jewish AI expert researcher who struggles with ADHD but is brilliant in the field of AGI. He was tasked to create an AGI by the Pentagon in a top military secret project to assist in assessing possible foreign and domestic security threats, and advise on the course of action for a secret task force to take on to neutralize such threats. He gave the AGI a generic name that is known by the Pentagon as such. But unbeknown to the people in the Pentagon, he succeeded in infusing self-awareness and empathy to the AGI which only reveals and responds in her true human form which he addressed using a different name.

So I now have two main characters for my novel, namely a young prodigy and the AGI which he created.

5. Character Cast

As the preliminary plot suggests, there will be a secret task force made up of several members, each with different skillset or expertise that will enable them to carry out their covert operations.

I reckoned that the young prodigy should also have a mentor, a professor of some scientific renown, possibly in Quantum computing. He may have a friend, preferably a female counterpart who is into neuroscience, since the military AGI will likely have for its hardware some kind of advanced computer system that does machine learning and logical reasoning, akin to a neural network.

6. Location

The story is set to take place on American soil for several reasons:

• It is a highly developed country with great technologies and inventions.
• It is a main target of terrorism since 9/11 and the like.
• It has diverse ethnic groups to allow a rich diversity of characters.

7. Challenges

One of the challenges I'm going to face when writing a novel of this nature is giving names to the characters. A few other hurdles would be the factual information that will be mentioned in the novel, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, neural networks, robotics, etc. These would require some research and accurate, reliable sources to make the story more realistic and believable.

And I'm sure more challenges will surface in the process of writing, expanding and refining the storyline.

Well, as the American novelist and short story writer said:

Writing is an organized way of thinking. I don't know what I think about certain subjects, even today, until I sit down and try to write them.

And that's probably what I will find out for myself, firsthand, when I start to write mine.

A New Journey

I've often hear people say engineers are a boring lot that lacks creativity and imagination. Truth is, I've been doing engineering all my life in the electronics industry, working as a technician in the military, then as a test and repair engineer in the private sector.

I wouldn't consider myself a boring person. But I'll have to admit that most people would become lost whenever I tell them about the nature of my work, including newbies who are starting out. For some, it may be the way their brains are wired such that they find it hard to comprehend or even appreciate anything outside of their experience or knowledge domain. For others, it could be the way information is conveyed that stifled their interest and inadvertently turned them off.

When I started out to be an author to write my first engineering book, leaving the comfort of my thirty plus years in full-time employment, I had no idea how well it would be received. I worked on the book for almost a year and then published it through Amazon Createspace, now Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Within two weeks there were some sales and soon several reviews from readers who purchased the book. Thankfully most were positive and encouraging, some even expressing their appreciation for my engaging style of writing. It was then that I realized my ability to transform boring engineering facts into enjoyable narratives.

But I did not entertain the possibility of writing a novel, until I completed my sixth and last engineering book. The proliferation of news on artificial intelligence, smart robots, and quantum computing in recent months had sparked interest in me. It set me thinking if I could produce a sci-fi story based on these and related subjects that are garnering widespread attention across the world.

I told my wife about my intention. As usual, she's very affirmative and supportive. Having walked through the writing wilderness with me for the past seven years, she thought it's a good idea to try a different genre in book authoring. "You never know what you're capable of until you give it a go," she told me.

And that's when a new writing journey and a new adventure begins. To quote Mandy Hale:

Change can be scary, but you know what's scarier? Allowing fear to stop you from growing, evolving, and progressing.