Speaking at MIT Technology Review’s EmTech Digital conference in San Francisco, Dario Gil of IBM said that quantum computers, which take advantage of the mind-bending phenomena of quantum physics, could have a big impact on one of the hottest fields in technology: artificial intelligence.
Unlike classical computers, which store information in bits that are either 1 or 0, quantum computers use qubits, which can exist in multiple states of 1 and 0 at the same time—a phenomenon known as “superposition.” Qubits can also influence one another even when they’re not physically connected, via a process known as “entanglement.”
Thanks to these exotic qualities, adding extra qubits to a quantum machine increases its computing power exponentially (see our qubit counter here). There are still challenges to be overcome. For instance, qubits’ delicate quantum state can be undone by even the tiniest vibration or change in temperature, like a bubble bursting at the slightest touch. This can introduce errors in calculations, though researchers are getting better at reducing these, and there’s hope quantum computers will eventually outperform even the most powerful supercomputers at certain tasks (see “Google’s close to ‘quantum supremacy.’ Here’s what that really means”).
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