Imagine it is the year 2500, the world is in harmony. Most people own a quantum computer, a super-efficient car and flying around the world can be done in just a few minutes. The only thing still missing is the ability to be anywhere in the world in an instance. Scientist are working hard on the quantum teleportation machine. A machine which can transport anybody anywhere in the world in just an instance.
This sounds like it just got out of a science fiction book, or something like Star Trek. In those books or movies you often see that an object or a person steps into a special machine where it disintegrates the person or object while a perfect replica appears somewhere else.
In 1993 a group of scientists researched if the method described in the books and movies would be possible. In those books and movies often a machine is described that would work like a fax machine. The object gets scanned, the data is transferred to another place where an exact copy is created. The original will be destroyed after the scanning process.
The group of six scientists confirmed the majority of science fiction writers by showing that teleportation is indeed possible in principle.
The first time quantum teleportation was demonstrated was in 1997. In 2012 scientists even succeeded to teleport a pair of entangled particles over a distance of 90 miles. Even though scientists are already teleporting certain particles, teleportation for humans is still far away. A group of scientists of the University of Leicester calculated that with current technologies it would take up to 4,85x1015 years.
So human teleportation is still quite far away, but when the technology will be there a lot of moral dilemmas will occur. Would you want to be a test subject for teleportation and be the pioneer in teleportation? Knowing the body you have now will be destroyed and a complete new body will be created, with a small chance you won’t survive.
The risks are quite high with quantum teleportation. A human cell contains about 1,2x1010 bits of information. This contains only enough information to replicate any other cell in your body. This only the physical data. To recreate a person’s mind another 2,6x1042 bits of data is needed. An error in this data is could potentially lead to deadly consequences.
The risks of using this technology will increase costs of use, but for a regular person the device needs to be affordable. There has to be a trade-off about safety and costs. Are people willing to use a device which could be, in the worst case, deadly? Or should the device be extremely expensive, but unaffordable for the regular people?
Quantum is revolution, transport revolution. No more need for airplanes, cars, etc. instead you can be on the other side of the world in just a few seconds. Car crashes will disappear, as well as plane crashes and other traffic related accidents.
What if the teleportation device has a small chance of error. So small it would only be 1/1000th of the current traffic deaths of nowadays. Would you still use it? On the road drivers do not predict their accidents, otherwise they would not drive. The only difference between driving a car and using the teleportation device is the amount of influence you have on your surroundings. Someone who is a terrible driver is more likely to end up in an accident, than someone who is a very safe driver. With the teleportation device you have no control on the device. There is just a small chance it could go wrong.
Knowing quantum teleportation is still very far away for humans, we already must think about the consequences, safety and the target audience. Should the device be affordable, the device will be less safe. Should the device be very safe it will not be affordable for everyone. The quantum teleportation technique is a great way of an alternative way of traveling, but will it be our future?