- Three in five businesses are exploring quantum AI
- Data analytics and machine learning is a key application for the tech
- High costs and lacking knowledge and skills are barriers to full adoption
Businesses are more familiar with quantum AI than you might expect, with more then three in five actively investing in or exploring the technology, new research has claimed.
A report from SAS has revealed how the technology’s most popular application is in data analytics and machine learning (48%), with research and development a fairly close second (41%) and cybersecurity in third place (35%).
Supple chain and logistics (31%), finance and risk management (26%) and marketing (20%) are also areas that are being explored for the use of quantum AI.
Quantum AI might be the next development in AI
The company noted ‘quantum AI’ is the combination of AI as we know it today with the power of quantum computing, enabling the development of new algorithms, models and other systems that can process complex data, train complicated ML models and solve problems that would otherwise be considered highly challenging or impossible with today’s tech.
However, the usual barriers apply as per any new technology, with high costs (38%), a lack of knowledge or understanding (35%), uncertainty about real-world use cases (31%), a lack of trained workers (31%) and a lack of regulatory guidelines (26%) all preventing businesses from being able to or wanting to explore quantum AI in more detail.
SAS even acknowledged that there’s a lot of hype around quantum computing and quantum AI, adding that today’s research into the topic can be confusing.
“With the emergence of quantum technologies, companies can analyse more data than ever and achieve amazingly fast answers to very complex questions involving myriad variables,” SAS Principal Quantum Architect Bill Wisotsky explained.
Although many argue that quantum AI use cases could still be years – or even decades – off, today’s research is paving the way and many enterprises are already starting to explore the emerging technology’s applications now.
Among the key industries set to benefit from quantum AI include life sciences for drug discovery, financial services for risk management, and manufacturing for optimized processes.
