Will Quantum Computing Break Encryption?

Credit: Scientific American

I am often asked, “Will quantum computing break traditional encryption”

The answer?

Yes.

Modern encryption relies on algorithms too complex for conventional computers to crack in any reasonable timeframe. To name a few:

→ RSA (Rives-Shamir-Adelman)
→ AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
→ SHA-256 (Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit)
→ ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography)
→ Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange

However, quantum computers can theoretically slice through these protocols almost instantly.

In short? Breaking everything.

From digital security, banking, online passcodes, infrastructure, virtual currencies, the list goes on.

Quantum Cryptography proposes new approaches harnessing principles of quantum mechanics to encrypt and transmit data in an entirely secure manner, making it theoretically immune to hacking and eavesdropping. Two examples are: Shor's algorithm and Grover's algorithm.

Now, this is cool, but are we not simply building an 'Emperor in New Clothing?'

You see, when we look at any technological system — whether that be the Large Language Models (LLMs) that power AI chatbots, or quantum-resistant algorithms — it all boils down to the following:

→ An algorithmic (logical, step-by-step, repeatable) protocol that relies on pattern-recognition and statistical probabilities to function

Like that ChatGPT, Claude, AI chatbot you spend so much time talking to.

The LLM is simply throwing a bunch of data and probabilities at the next logical occurrence of a word.

It's still a pattern.

Trained on vast amounts of data.

But what if... we lived in a world beyond patterns and the abilities to recognize them?

Not only does our concept of 'intelligence' and 'IQ' change, but our entire, ...er... concept of reality changes.

And this is where I've been really geeking out!!

Recently, mathematicians have created a geometric shape — dubbed 'Einstein Tile' — that can cover an infinite plane with patterns that never repeat.

I've never seen something so chaotically beautiful.

Fractal geometry and conventional physics - The organizing mathematical principle of nature, music, and mathematics; the golden ratio; the solfeggio scale; the Fibonacci sequence.

Broken?

What does this mean for AI systems, quantum computing, and cybersecurity?

How would you build
your company
your security infrastructure
your human organizational processes

... in a world with infinitely repeating variance?

A world of systematically engineered entropy.

A world where every occurrence truly is a unique, emergent, snowflake?