The Future of Artificial Intelligence: Quantum Computing 101

Aleksandra Hadzic
8 min readNov 11, 2021

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Everywhere you look, quantum computing is on the rise and on everyone’s lips regarding emerging technologies. But how many of us are aware that we can invest in companies dedicated to developing and commercialising quantum computers?

The world of quantum computing is about to enter the next phase of research and development, which should provide present holders with exciting capital gains. Although most quantum computing companies are not pure-plays, investing in these stocks can result in capital gains by purchasing and holding stock while watching the industry grow. In the 2020s, we may witness a rapid maturation phase of early startups.

Can Quantum Computing Disrupt the Future of Technology?

Since its origin in the 1960s, quantum computing has been a pipe dream, despite more than five decades of research and experimentation. However, quantum computing is making its way off the drawing board and into the real world — though there are still many obstacles to overcome. And, while we’ve seen significant advancements in quantum computations, power output, and precision, we haven’t yet seen any “killer use cases” that would drive a surge in consumer demand for quantum computers.

However, given recent advances in quantum computing research, collaboration, and investment, many experts believe it is only a matter of time before quantum computing is used in mainstream technology.

Stop the Quantum Hype and Put it in Perspective

Right, I understand that the Crypto hype train is intimidating, and it’s challenging to decide what to trust and invest in. Many new words and buzzwords are being coined these days, and I’ll try to clarify some of them for you. Another popular question is which company is most likely to succeed in the global quantum computing market. It’s an open question, but I believe some of the more common answers leave out important considerations.

After a decade of innovations such as artificial intelligence, Big Data, machine learning, the Internet of Things, advanced robotics, gene editing, 3D printing, nanotechnology, and so on, quantum computing is the next big thing.

Quantum computers operate on data using the fundamental principles of quantum theory. As we can see in recent years, quantum computing progress has been revolutionary and rapid, and it has gradually approached the realisation of a large-scale quantum computer. Many scientists and engineers believe that quantum computers will benefit humanity in the near future. Quantum computing is one of the most promising fields that have the potential to transform our world and society.

Qatalyst Quantum Computer Wins BMW Challenge

Recently, Quantum Computing, Inc. $QUBT announced that its Qatalyst ready-to-run quantum software was chosen as one of three finalists for the second and final round of the BMW Group and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Quantum Computing Challenge for the Vehicle Sensor Placement use case.

In the quantum computing space, competitors include Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services, and Alibaba. It is critical to recognise that these companies are not competing with one another but rather share a common goal: to make quantum computing accessible to everyone. So, who exactly are they?

These five stocks are breaking new ground in the technology sector, and I believe they will do well for investors. $QUBIT, $IONQ, $HON, $D-Wave, and $NVIDIA were all undervalued, and now it’s time to reap the benefits as they become digital staples.

How Quantum Computing Will Accelerate AI

Quantum computing is the next generation of computers that will revolutionise the way we think about technology. Quantum computers were science fiction just ten years ago. Today, however, Google, IBM, the Chinese government, the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and many others are developing quantum computers.

China has announced the creation of the world’s first commercial application of a quantum communication satellite less than six months after announcing that they had harnessed a quantum computer. It is also clear that China regards this technology as a significant achievement and competitive advantage over the United States.

When Quantum Computing Comes True: AI on Steroids

When quantum computers are finally more available to the public, AI could run significantly faster due to quantum speed-up. How long will that happen? I have no idea, but it’s more likely 2030s than 2020s. Anyway, the point of Quantum computing is not to make parts for quantum computers but rather to improve artificial intelligence.

Hardly a day goes by without a publication or news site reporting on some advancement in quantum computing technology. The advertising and marketing teams behind these reports typically overhype the development and its effects, which has led to a lot of confusion and unfounded hype with headlines like: ‘The Dawn of the Quantum Age is Already Here and ‘Quantum Computing: Breaking the Boundaries of Human Achievement.

On the other hand, driven by the plummeting cost of silicon and the development of artificial intelligence, quantum computing is now finally becoming a reality for individual investors. The entire venture capital climate seems to be pricing some companies at lofty valuations based on some recent successes. But the fact is, many of these companies are operating in markets that are still “in development” or are trying to develop platforms for new markets.

New Quantum Computing Architecture Achieves Record-Breaking Results

IonQ published a paper in Nature demonstrating how it successfully corrected errors in an existing 2-qubit prototype quantum processor. This is significant because, in the absence of error correction, any computational error that occurs during a quantum computation will be amplified and cause the entire computation to fail.

Even though their results demonstrated that error correction on a trapped-ion quantum computer was possible, I do not believe they were the cause of the spike. More than anything, it appears that it was just some clever publicity leading up to the release of their results in Nature Journal.

Where Evolutionary Systems and Evolutionary Algorithms meet Quantum Computing

When it comes to general-purpose computer performance, humanity is a little on the ropes. Moore’s law has run its course, and specialised hardware will not change these fundamental limits because we have now reached the fundamental limits of physics. When quantum computers become available, you can forget about apps like Google Maps; even the most basic text editors will no longer function.

Data-driven, search-driven, travel-driven, and pharmaceutical-research-driven strategies will only get us so far in making these systems work for us. I believe that quantum computing will lead to a true renaissance in the use of AI.

Quantum Computing: Challenges and Opportunities

Google is currently at the forefront of quantum computing research and has made significant progress. They are pushing the boundaries of quantum physics with their D-Wave quantum computer. Their early experiments produced impressive results, but it’s difficult to tell where they’re going. Swimming in shark-infested waters is akin to swimming in a shark-infested pool. Google is fearless in its pursuit of quantum computing, developing new algorithms for their computers to execute. Understanding their progress can be difficult if you don’t know what they’re attempting to achieve.

In terms of relevance, I believe it will take several decades for quantum computing to become a mainstream technology. This will be true across a wide range of industries, from defence to financial services and beyond. By collaborating with various retailers, D-Wave is already playing a role in personalisation and dynamic pricing.

On the one hand, they are improving their software development kit (SDK) to build commercial, government/military, and academic applications. In contrast, unlike their main competitor, IBM’s Quantum Computing Department has published several papers on the use of quantum computers for encryption.

The Quest for Quantum Computing

How many qubits are required to solve current problems? What is the required error rate? When can we expect quantum computers to breach current cryptographic systems’ security? How much computational power will quantum computers have in the near future, and what applications might result?

Are we Standing on the Cusp of a Quantum Computing Revolution?

IonQ, a quantum computing firm, has successfully created the first “fault-tolerant logical qubit” — a qubit that is resilient to a failure in any one component — laying the groundwork for quantum computers that are both reliable and large enough for practical applications such as risk modelling or shipping route optimisation.

Amazon opened the AWS Center for Quantum Computing in October 2021. The scientific community has known that specific computational tasks can be solved more efficiently when qubits (quantum bits) are used to perform the calculations. That quantum computer can solve some problems that are currently beyond the reach of classical computers. However, there are still many unknowns.

How Quantum Leap in Computing will Change Our Lives

Quantum computing holds great promise for solving intractable problems, but its application is still limited due to its difficulty communicating with qubits. While scientists work to develop more efficient methods of communicating quantum data via photons or superconducting fault-tolerant systems, companies such as IonQ are capitalising on the speed and accuracy that qubits promise by developing dedicated hardware capable of gathering data on multiple ions at once.

IonQ is ushering in a quantum revolution that will fundamentally alter how we live and work. IonQ can enable new approaches to significant societal problems by developing scalable, commercial quantum computers. Quantum computing is on track to improve intelligence processing for homeland security, accelerate research into new medicines and materials, and determine the origins of stars and atoms.

It can also discover better solar energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels, transform how businesses optimise supply chains and processes, create super-secure communications technology, create new algorithms for machine learning and data analytics, improve agricultural yields globally, and do a variety of other things.

The World is Changing Faster than Ever, and You Need to Join the Futurists Movement

IonQ gives users the option of using Azure, Google Cloud, or Amazon Web Services. Developers can access testing environments via IonQ’s API, allowing them to test their app in multiple programming languages. So, quantum on the cloud, where does this leave us? Much more research is needed, but it may be the best place to start if businesses wait for technology to develop.

Quantum computing is in an exciting phase right now, with technology progressing from an academic concept to a product that developers can use. The question that has been bothering me is how this will affect the future of computing. That’s a difficult question to answer, which is why I decided to write this blog post outlining my thoughts on the subject.

Got some questions about this topic? Feel free to contact me!

In the meantime, can also connect with me on LinkedIn.

‘Till next reading ,)

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Aleksandra Hadzic

Researching AI. Merging Data Science and Digital Marketing.