Quantum Computing and AI (and Who Gets to Explain Things)

In this episode, Jessica teaches Kimberly quantum computing — and we mean that literally. Starting from classical bits and working through superposition, Schrödinger's cat, the observer effect, and Google's Willow chip, Jessica builds a surprisingly intuitive explanation of what quantum computers actually do and why they matter for the future of AI.

But the episode starts somewhere else, with the phone call Jessica made after we stopped recording, questioning whether she should have tried to explain something she isn't formally trained in. That moment opens a bigger conversation about why women hesitate to speak publicly in technical spaces — not because they lack knowledge, but because the social penalties for being visibly uncertain are higher.

We cover:

• How classical computers work (bits, binary, the basics)
• What makes quantum computers fundamentally different (superposition, qubits, the observer effect)
• Schrödinger's cat — what it actually means and why a physicist would argue the cat is both dead and alive
• The double-slit experiment and why watching something changes what it is
• How Google's Willow chip did in five minutes what would take a classical computer longer than the age of the universe — and why you should read that headline carefully
• Why quantum computers are kept colder than outer space
• The three possible futures for quantum computing and what each would mean for everyday life
• The connection to AI — why quantum could speed up model training and what that actually looks like
• Who controls access to this technology, and why that question sounds familiar
• The research on why women adopt new technologies more slowly — and what it has to do with self-silencing, impostor syndrome, and gendered penalties for public uncertainty

Links

Women, voice, and silence

• bell hooks — National Women’s History Museum:
  bell hooks
  
  
• bell hooks and feminism — Equal Rights Advocates:
  10 rules: following bell hooks’ instructions for our movement
  
  
• Dana Crowley Jack — Harvard University Press:
  Silencing the Self
  
  
• Self-silencing summary — TIME:
  Self-Silencing Is Making Women Sick
  
  

Tech adoption and impostor feelings

• Women and AI adoption gap — LeanIn.org:
  Women and AI: The Gender Gap in AI Adoption and Usage
  
  
• Women avoiding AI — Harvard Business School:
  Women Are Avoiding AI. Will Their Careers Suffer?
  
  
• Women in tech and imposter syndrome — IT Pro:
  Imposter syndrome is pushing women out of tech
  
  

Quantum computing basics

• Quantum computing intro — QCS Hub:
  Introduction to quantum computing
  
  
• Schrödinger’s cat — Yale News: