Assignment 1: Information Literacy
Cory Cobb
Google launches quantum processor, artificial intelligence project
Google has decided to launch a new endeavor to build quantum information processors with the
focus on the field of artificial intelligence as announced by Hartmut Neven, Director of
Engineering at Google. They have teamed up with the University of California Santa Barbara
(UCSB), led by physicist John Martinis. Google executives have said that the UCSB team has
made great stride in the development of quantum electronics components and Martinis was just
awarded the London Prize for his “pioneering advances in quantum control and quantum
information processing.”(Osbourne 2014)
Quantum computing is based off of sub-atomic particles, while standard computing handles
binary data expressed in zeroes and ones. Some theorist believe that computing could see a vast
improvement in speed and power, through the use of qubits, which could act as both types of
binary at the same time thus maybe exploiting all combinations of bits at the same time.
This new team will work together, hosted by several groups, the Quantum Artificial Intelligence
Lab, NASA Ames Research Center and the University Space Research Association (USRA).
These collaborations will allow the Quantum AI team to implement and test new designs based
on theoretical insights and what they have learned from the D-Wave quantum annealing
architecture. Even though Google will be building its own quantum processor they will still be
collaborating in building new designs with D-Wave scientists and will continue experimenting
with the “Vesuvius” machine at NASA.
Using Ask.com and Bing.com search engines to search for two additional Internet articles. Comparing
the two search engines, I found that Ask.com resulted in more information for the search. The number of
results were roughly the same, compared to Bing, but there were more options relating to the subject of
quantum computers in the Ask.com results.
The following questions are answered through TRAAP method.
1. Time – when was it written? Has it been updated? The article found through the Bing search titled
“Google is building the world’s fastest computer” was written or published on September 3, 2014. The
article has not been updated since then.
2. Relevance – does it relate to your topic or answer your question? It relates to my topic by further
describing Google’s use of quantum processors that they are planning to create. They will change the
way computing is done if successful.
3. Authority – who is the author(s)? Are they qualified to write about this topic? How do you know? The
author is Ben Rooney, a CNN Money Market reporter. I cannot really find any proof that he is qualified
to write about this topic. There is no information on the webpage stating that he has any expertise in
quantum computing.
4. Accurate – is the information trustworthy? Is it supported by evidence? Has it been tested for accuracy?
The information would be considered trustworthy, not because of the author, but rather due to the fact that
it is a CNN Money story. It does not give evidence to support the story besides information about the
subject matter. It states the opinions and thoughts of the companies involved in the story.
5. Purpose – why was it written, to inform, sell, persuade? Is there a bias or is the material objective?
The story was written to inform readers of Googles new project. The material is objective. The writer
does not have anything to gain from publishing the story.
In searching for the articles I used “Google quantum computer” as the keywords to find the articles.
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Assignment 1: Information Literacy
Cory Cobb
EBSCO is the database I used. I chose to use this database because it gave the best results for my search.
Write a paragraph comparing the two articles based on the following:
The Internet articles were a lot easier to access than the Journal articles. The information on the
internet was free and did not require any special steps, while the journal articles required special
access to the site to obtain full access. You also had to make more choices in your search in
finding the journals, where you had to choose which database you wanted to use. The internet
articles were more current than the journal articles. Both, the journals and the internet articles
covered the concept of quantum computers, but the internet articles had more recent information.
The author of the journal titled, Quantum Leap is Lev Grossman. Will Bourne is the author of
“Dream Machine”, the second journal. The internet articles were written by Ben Rooney,
“Google is building the world's fastest computer” and Charlie Osborne, “Google launches
quantum processor, artificial intelligence project.” The authors of the journals gave full details
on their findings. They were more credible, even though much of the same information was used
in all of the stories.
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Assignment 1: Information Literacy
Cory Cobb
References (APA Format)
Osbourne, C. (2014, September 3). Google launches quantum processor, artificial intelligence
project. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.zdnet.com/google-launches-quantumprocessor-artificial-intelligence-project-7000033241
Simonite, T. (2014, September 3). Google Launches Effort to Build Its Own Quantum Computer.
Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.technologyreview.com/news/530516/googlelaunches-effort-to-build-its-own-quantum-computer/
Rooney, B. (2014, September 3). Google is building the world's fastest computer. Retrieved
September 17, 2014, from http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/03/technology/googlequantum/index.html
Grossman, L. (2014). Quantum Leap. Time, 183(6), 26. Retrieved from EBSCO.
Bourne, W. (2014). The Dream Machine. Inc, 36(2), 100. Retrieved from EBSCO.
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