When AI Marries Quantum Computing

Sometime in the future, a medical researcher opens her laptop to investigate a rare disease. Through an AI assistant, she taps into quantum processors working alongside conventional computers in a distant data center. Together, they help identify molecules worth testing. She has never seen the machines doing these calculations and yet she's confident this work could finally produce an effective treatment, saving millions of lives.

One organization chasing this very scenario is Diraq, a Sydney-based quantum company founded by physicist and engineer Andrew Dzurak. That work begins with fitting millions of qubits, the basic units of quantum computing, onto a single computer chip.

What Quantum Computing Is

First we must define terms. "Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, which process information very differently. While classical bits always represent either one or zero, a qubit can be in a superposition of one and zero simultaneously until its state is measured," explains Caltech Science Exchange. And, according to IBM, "By taking advantage of quantum physics, large-scale quantum computers would be able to tackle certain complex problems many times faster than modern classical machines. Quantum computers have the potential to solve certain problems in minutes or hours that would otherwise take conventional machines millennia to complete."