**Is Practical Quantum Computing Finally Near?**

The question on everyone's mind: are we finally on the cusp of practical quantum computing? Scott Aaronson, a leading expert in the field, revisits the topic following his recent attendance at the Q2B conference. In this article, he shares his insights and observations, providing a balanced view of the current state of quantum computing.

**A Decade of Progress**

Aaronson begins by acknowledging the impressive progress made in the past decade. "Ten years ago, I said that scalable quantum computing wasn't imminent," he recalls. "Now, though, I believe it plausibly is." He attributes this shift in opinion to the rapid advancement of experimental milestones achieved over the past year.

**The Q2B Conference**

Aaronson attended the Q2B conference in Santa Clara, where he gave a keynote talk entitled "Why I Think Quantum Computing Works." The conference featured talks from leading experts in the field, including Ryan Babbush and John Preskill. Aaronson notes that the talks were "extremely helpful" in providing a sense of the current state of quantum computing.

**Quantinuum's Successes**

Aaronson highlights Quantinuum's recent successes as a notable achievement in the field. He believes that their advancements justify boasting about their achievements, but also acknowledges that there is still much work to be done.

**The Urgency of Post-Quantum Cryptography**

In a cautionary note, Aaronson warns about the importance of migrating to post-quantum cryptography. "At some point, the people doing detailed estimates of how many physical qubits and gates it'll take to break actually deployed cryptosystems using Shor's algorithm will stop publishing those estimates," he says. "This is the clearest warning that I can offer in public right now about the urgency of migrating to post-quantum cryptosystems."

**A Skeptical View**

Aaronson acknowledges that some people may be skeptical about the potential of quantum computing, but emphasizes the importance of being realistic about its limitations and potential. "Unlike AI, quantum computers won’t hallucinate because they’re deterministic," he notes. However, this assertion has been met with skepticism by some experts.

**A Critique from Johnny D**

One critic, Johnny D, raises an interesting point about the semantics of error-correcting quantum computing. He suggests that the concept of vacuum degeneracy in QECC may not be valid at the physical qubits level, where entanglement syntactically (physically) is different.

**Scott Aaronson's Response**

Aaronson responds to Johnny D's critique by emphasizing that this is not a question about quantum theory being wrong, but rather about QECC semantics of vacuum degeneracy not being a valid assumption at the physical qubits level. He notes that an estimate for when this effect would become relevant depends on energy differentials of the physical qubits.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, Aaronson's article provides a nuanced and balanced view of the current state of quantum computing. While acknowledging impressive progress, he remains skeptical about overhyped claims and warns about the importance of migrating to post-quantum cryptography. As he notes, "unlike AI, quantum computers won’t hallucinate because they’re deterministic," but this assertion has been met with skepticism by some experts.

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Is Practical Quantum Computing Finally Near?

The question on everyone's mind: are we finally on the cusp of practical quantum computing? Scott Aaronson, a leading expert in the field, revisits the topic following his recent attendance at the Q2B conference.

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