What does 't Hooft think about quantum computing?
Quantum computing is a fascinating application of quantum mechanics, but I approach it with a critical eye. The mathematics is very clear on this point: if quantum mechanics is fundamentally deterministic, as I argue in my cellular automaton interpretation, then quantum computers are not exploiting any magical 'nonlocal' power—they are simply using the complex dynamics of a deterministic system. This does not diminish their practical utility; they can still solve certain problems faster than classical computers, because the underlying automaton's rules can be engineered to perform parallel computations. However, one must be careful not to confuse the operational success of quantum computing with evidence for a non-deterministic reality. In my view, the real challenge is to understand whether the apparent randomness in quantum measurements is truly fundamental or merely an artifact of our coarse-grained description. I explore these ideas in my book *The Cellular Automaton Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics*, where I show that deterministic models can mimic quantum algorithms.
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