AI efficiently fixes mistakes in error-prone quantum computers

Current quantum computers are highly prone to errors, making them unlikely to be of practical use, but an artificial intelligence that spots and fixes mistakes could help

Quantum computers are still error-prone

Bartlomiej K. Wroblewski / Alamy

Current quantum computers make too many errors to ever be truly useful, but an artificial intelligence that can correct quantum mistakes could offer a solution.

All computers, whether ordinary or quantum, require error correction. The task is more complex in quantum computing because each qubit, or quantum bit, exists in a mixed state of 0 and 1, and any attempt to identify errors by directly measuring qubits destroys the data.

This means it is early days for quantum error correction. Google announced in July 2021 that …