There are still some use cases where light-based computation could work very well without miniaturization, just don't expect it to replace general-purpose chips.
One possible application is in the amplification stages of optical communication links. If you could do error correction in pure optical circuits, you could avoid the optical -> electrical -> optical conversion, and save lots of energy -- something quite relevant for submarine cables, for example.
One possible application is in the amplification stages of optical communication links. If you could do error correction in pure optical circuits, you could avoid the optical -> electrical -> optical conversion, and save lots of energy -- something quite relevant for submarine cables, for example.