I’ll be honest: when I first encountered the word “qubit,” I treated it the way I treat most technical jargon – as something I’d understand eventually. Then I started reading. And I realised that if you’re working in AI law and you don’t understand what a qubit actually is, you’re missing the foundation of everything that’s coming next.
So here’s what I learned. In plain language.
Start with what you know
A classical computer – the one you’re using right now – processes information in bits. A bit is either 0 or 1. On or off. Yes or no. Every calculation your computer makes, every document, every email, every encrypted file: it’s all ones and zeros, processed one state at a time.
This works. It’s worked for decades. But it has limits.
What makes a qubit different
A qubit – a quantum bit – doesn’t have to choose between 0 and 1. Thanks to a property called superposition, it exists in a combination of both states until measured.
This sounds like a physics trick. It’s actually a computational shift worth understanding.
When qubits are combined, they don’t just double the processing power – they multiply it exponentially. Two qubits can represent four states simultaneously. Ten qubits: 1,024 states. Three hundred qubits can mathematically represent more states than there are atoms in the observable universe – though translating that into reliable computation remains the central challenge.
Add entanglement – the ability of qubits to correlate with each other regardless of distance – and you have a machine that can run algorithms in ways a classical computer simply cannot. Quantum algorithms use interference – amplifying correct answers and cancelling out wrong ones – rather than checking every possibility by brute force. Rather than checking every possible solution one by one, quantum algorithms use interference to amplify correct answers and cancel out incorrect ones – much like waves in water that reinforce each other to create a strong signal while others cancel out and disappear.
Why this is still a work in progress
Qubits are extraordinarily fragile. They lose their quantum state – a process called decoherence – at the slightest interference from the environment. This is why quantum computers currently need to operate at temperatures close to absolute zero, colder than outer space.
We’re not yet at the point where quantum computers can reliably solve problems that classical computers can’t. That era is approaching. It’s not here yet.
Why lawyers should pay attention now
Here’s where it gets relevant.
The most widely used encryption standards today – RSA, elliptic curve cryptography – are secure because the mathematical problems behind them take classical computers an impractical amount of time to solve. We’re talking millions of years.
A sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could theoretically solve those same problems in a fraction of that time. We don’t have that machine yet. But the direction is clear.
This means two things for law:
First, any data encrypted today can be intercepted and stored, waiting for quantum capability to catch up. This is the harvest now, decrypt later problem. It’s a credible and widely discussed threat – even if its full scale remains difficult to verify publicly. GDPR’s Article 32 requires security measures that reflect the state of the art. The state of the art is shifting.
Second, post-quantum cryptography is coming. NIST finalised its first post-quantum standards in 2024. Organisations will need to migrate. That migration will require legal frameworks, contracts, compliance assessments, and liability allocation nobody has fully worked out yet.
The honest answer to “why should lawyers care”
Because by the time quantum computing becomes mainstream, the legal questions won’t be new. They’ll be overdue.
That’s a reasonable place to start.
For legal and strategic advisory on AI governance, visit AI Business Studio.
