The expected arrival of quantum computers heralds the end of the silicon era, an event that may lead to the disappearance of Silicon Valley as we know it. This is just one of the many changes that will likely be caused by the technological advances expected over the next decades. Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and futurist, discussed some of his predictions in a brief Q&A with LSE Business Review’s managing editor, Helena Vieira, during the World Economic Forum’s Great Narrative meeting in Dubai

Kaku, Michio

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Michio	Kaku:	As	the	golden	age	of	silicon	comes	to	anend,	Silicon	Valley	risks	becoming	another	rust	beltThe	expected	arrival	of	quantum	computers	heralds	the	end	of	the	silicon	era,	an	event	that	may	lead	to	thedisappearance	of	Silicon	Valley	as	we	know	it.	This	is	just	one	of	the	many	changes	that	will	likely	be	caused	by	thetechnological	advances	expected	over	the	next	decades.	Michio	Kaku,	theoretical	physicist	and	futurist,	discussedsome	of	his	predictions	in	a	brief	Q&A	with	LSE	Business	Review’s	managing	editor,	Helena	Vieira,	during	theWorld	Economic	Forum’s	Great	Narrative	meeting	in	Dubai.	LSEBR:	In	your	talk	this	morning,	you	said	Silicon	Valley	risks	becoming	another	rust	belt.	Could	youexplain?The	golden	age	of	silicon	is	gradually	coming	to	an	end.	Moore’s	law,	which	says	that	computer	power	doublesevery	18	months,	is	slowing	down,	and	will	eventually	collapse,	because	of	the	quantum	theory.	You	realise	thatyour	Pentium	chip	may	have	a	layer	of	maybe	20	atoms	across,	at	the	minimum.	However,	in	the	coming	years,	it’llbe	five	atoms	across.	At	that	point	electrons	leak	out,	because	of	the	Heisenberg	uncertainty	principle.	Siliconbecomes	useless	at	the	atomic	level.	Heat	generation	and	leakage	due	to	the	quantum	theory	will	doom	siliconcomputers,	meaning	that	we	have	to	go	to	molecular	computers,	optical	computers,	and	eventually	quantumcomputers,	which	compute	on	individual	atoms.LSEBR:	What	about	Silicon	Valley	companies	that	are	not	necessarily	dealing	with	hardware?Well,	software	will	survive,	but	even	software	has	to	be	rearranged	because	quantum	computers	are	probabilistic.That	is,	they	don’t	say	that	two	plus	two	is	four,	they	say	“two	plus	two	is	most	likely	four”.	So	even	the	computerlanguage	has	to	be	modified	when	you	start	to	compute	on	atoms	rather	than	bits.	And	bits,	of	course,	mean	thatyou	compute	on	zeros	and	ones.	Quantum	computers	compute	on	anything	between	zeros	and	ones,	which	vastlyincreases	the	power	of	a	computer.	Current	computers	are	digital,	while	quantum	computers	are	based	on	thespinning	direction	of	a	spinning	top	called	the	atom.LSEBR:	Can	you	predict	what	kinds	of	companies	are	likely	to	thrive?All	the	major	Silicon	Valley	computer	companies	are	desperately	trying	to	jump	into	the	game.	Now,	I	want	to	stressthat	this	is	not	immediate,	we’re	not	talking	about	an	immediate	collapse	of	Silicon	Valley,	because	of	the	fact	ofsomething	called	decoherence.	If	somebody	sneezes	a	block	away,	or	somebody	jumps	or	falls	down,	it	creates	asmall	disturbance	that	might	be	enough	to	ruin	the	vibrations	of	these	individual	atoms.	So,	that	is	calleddecoherence.	And	that	is	the	major	problem.	So,	you	have	to	cool	them	down	to	near	absolute	zero,	meaning	youhave	to	have	layers	and	layers	of	cooling	coils	to	make	sure	that	the	delicate	wave	function	of	the	electrons	and	theatom	don’t	decohere	and	become	random.LSEBR:	Your	other	prediction	was	about	fusion	power.	What	changes	will	that	bring?Fusion	power	has	been	overhyped	for	decades.	But	finally,	believe	it	or	not,	finally,	we’re	in	the	end	game.	Byaround	2025,	the	ITER	fusion	reactor	in	southern	France	will	likely	be	turned	on.	We	hope	to	attain	breakeven	soonafter	that	—that	is,	getting	as	much	power	out	as	you	put	in	—	and,	by	mid-century,	begin	the	commercialisation	offusion	power.	And	just	remember,	fusion	power	gets	its	energy	from	seawater,	hydrogen	in	seawater.	It	creates	alittle	bit	of	nuclear	waste,	mainly	helium	gas,	which	is	commercially	valuable.	You	can	actually	sell	the	wasteproducts	of	a	fusion	reactor.	The	problem	is,	of	course,	they	don’t	yet	exist,	but	many	physicists	are	confident	that	itwill	work.	And	we’re	confident	that	by	mid-century,	we	may	have	a	partial	solution	to	the	global	warming	crisis.LSEBR:	The	scariest	trend	I	heard	you	mention	today	was	brain	net	—	the	human	mind	merging	with	theinternet.LSE Business Review: Michio Kaku: As the golden age of silicon comes to an end, Silicon Valley risks becoming another rust belt Page 1 of 2		Date originally posted: 2021-11-29Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2021/11/29/michio-kaku-as-the-golden-age-of-silicon-comes-to-an-end-silicon-valley-risks-becoming-another-rust-belt/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/Already,	the	US	Pentagon	is	one	of	the	greatest	funder	of	BCI,	brain	computer	interface	technology.	You	put	a	chipon	the	surface	of	the	brain,	and	that	chip	is	connected	to	a	laptop	which	can	decode	the	impulses	of	the	brain.	A	GIwho	is	totally	paralysed	from	Afghanistan	or	wars	in	Iraq,	or	anyone	who	is	totally	paralysed	due	to	disease	or	anaccident	can	communicate	with	others	mentally	through	telepathy,	move	a	wheelchair,	read	email,	write	email.Basically,	anything	you	can	do	on	the	internet,	this	paralysed	person	can	also	do.	Recently	at	the	World	Cup	in	SãoPaulo,	a	paralysed	man	kicked	a	football.	He	was	hooked	up	with	an	exoskeleton	from	Duke	University,	which	wasconnected	to	his	brain.	Even	though	he	was	paralysed,	he	was	able	to	move	his	arms	and	legs	and	kick	the	ball.Not	only	that,	but	with	MRI	machines,	we	can	detect	the	blood	flow	of	the	living	brain	and	extract	an	image	of	whatyou	are	thinking.	In	other	words,	eventually	we’ll	be	able	to	photograph	a	dream.	You	dream	about	something,	youwill	be	able	to	perhaps	photograph	the	image	of	that	dream.	Already	in	animals,	we’ve	taken	memories	made	by	amouse	drinking	water	and	sent	it	on	the	internet.	It	is	now	possible	to	record	memories	in	creatures.	Now	we’redoing	it	with	primates.	Eventually,	it’ll	be	done	with	Alzheimer’s	patients,	who	will	be	able	to	push	a	button	and	thememory	chip	will	flood	their	hippocampus	with	memories	of	who	they	are.The	Pentagon	has	even	advertised	it	is	willing	to	give	grants	to	the	inventor	who	can	create	the	memory	chip.	So,	amemory	chip	is	coming,	which	means	that	eventually,	the	internet	will	no	longer	be	purely	digital.	It’ll	be	neural	anddigital.	It’ll	send	memories,	emotions,	feelings.	Teenagers	will	love	it.	Teenagers	today	put	a	happy	face	at	the	endof	every	sentence.	In	the	future,	they’ll	put	the	memory	of	their	first	dance,	first	date,	first	kiss,	right	there	on	theinternet.	And	this	will	replace	television	and	radio.	Who	wants	to	watch	television	and	the	movies,	nothing	but	a	two-dimensional	screen	with	sound?	You	want	to	feel	what	the	actors	are	feeling.	You	want	to	understand	their	situationand	anguish.	So,	the	movies	and	entertainment	are	all	going	to	be	revolutionised,	and	it’s	going	to	reduce	barriersbetween	people.	Today,	when	you	read	that	someone	else	is	suffering,	you	might	say	to	yourself,	“come	on,	giveme	a	break,	they’re	faking	it,	they’re	not	suffering	at	all”.	But	then	you	can	actually	feel	their	suffering	via	the	internetand	realise	that	their	situation	is	true	and	not	fake.	So,	this	is	going	to	affect	human	relations	as	well.LSEBR:	Goodbye	privacy	forever…Well,	we	have	to	make	sure	that	privacy	is	protected	because,	of	course,	we	don’t	want	someone	to	read	ourthoughts.	It’s	not	as	simple	as	that.	But	this	brain	net,	I	think,	is	pretty	much	going	to	be	inevitable.	Anotherconsequence	of	brain	net	is	immortality,	digital	immortality.	We’re	going	to	digitise	our	consciousness	and	liveforever.	I	wouldn’t	mind	talking	to	Einstein.	I	would	love	the	capability	of	sitting	down	with	a	holographic	image	ofEinstein	that	talks	to	me,	accesses	his	diaries,	his	printed	words,	his	interviews,	and	everything	known	about	theman.	One	day	you	will	be	digitised.	You	will	talk	to	your	great,	great,	great,	great,	great,	great	grandkids	and	theywill	talk	to	their	famous	great,	great,	great,	great,	great,	great	grandmother.	So,	we	will	be	digitised.	This	process	ishappening	now.	It	turns	out	that	William	Shatner,	the	star	of	Star	Trek,	spent	four	days	in	front	of	a	cameraanswering	every	single	question	about	his	thoughts	in	his	lifetime.	A	computer	programme	chopped	up	theinterview,	so	that	you	could	ask	him	any	question	in	any	order.	And	his	image	will	answer	that	question	for	youcoherently.	So	already	a	piece	of	William	Shatner	is	immortal	and	digital	immortality	will	one	day	be	available	foranyone.♣♣♣Notes:This	is	the	first	in	a	series	of	five	interviews	that	took	place	during	the	World	Economic	Forum’s	GreatNarrative	meeting	in	Dubai	(11-12	November	2021).For	more	on	these	predictions,	see	Michio	Kaku’s	books	The	Future	of	the	Mind	and	Physics	of	the	Future.The	interview	represents	the	views	of	the	interviewee,	not	the	position	of	LSE	Business	Review	or	the	LondonSchool	of	Economics.Featured	image	by	Campus	Party	Brasil,	under	a	CC-BY-SA-2.0	licenceWhen	you	leave	a	comment,	you’re	agreeing	to	our	Comment	Policy.LSE Business Review: Michio Kaku: As the golden age of silicon comes to an end, Silicon Valley risks becoming another rust belt Page 2 of 2		Date originally posted: 2021-11-29Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2021/11/29/michio-kaku-as-the-golden-age-of-silicon-comes-to-an-end-silicon-valley-risks-becoming-another-rust-belt/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/

Michio Kaku: as the golden age of silicon comes to an end, Silicon Valley risks becoming another rust belt

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Michio Kaku: as the golden age of silicon comes to an end, Silicon Valley risks becoming another rust belt

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