AI and machine learning take a quantum leap
The hardware side of quantum computers often gets the attention, but at UTS researchers are working away at the programs and algorithms that will power these machines – and transform computing as we know it.
Photo credit: University of Technology Sydney (UTS) - Andy Roberts
Quantum computing as a concept has been around since the early 1980s when physicists first proposed building a machine powered by quantum bits. The potential of this device would allow for calculations at levels so complex and detailed it’s hard for the human mind to fathom.
Such an endeavour has captured the imaginations of people around the world, with governments, private industry and startups racing to become the first to flick the switch and launch us into a new era of computing.
“It will require the same kind of scale and resources that, say, the Apollo Program required,” says Chris Ferrie, a professor of quantum computing at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Associate Director of the Centre for Quantum Software and Information (QSI).
But while large rocket ships are eye-grabbing, it’s only recently that the stories of those behind the scenes, the ones developing the important programs and systems that get the machines from A to B, have been revealed. It’s a similar story with quantum computing: there’s lots of interest in building the physical hardware, but the software side of things has so far been a quiet achiever.
However, with more push for quantum applications to make the leap from theory to fact, Ferrie and his peers are experimenting with building AI, machine learning and software systems to power the quantum age.
