Why AI firms should follow the example of quantum computing research

What is the difference between artificial intelligence and quantum computing? One is a sci-fi-sounding technology that has long promised to revolutionise our world, providing researchers can sort out a few technical wrinkles like the tendency to make errors. Actually, so is the other.

And yet, while AI appears to have breathlessly and inescapably taken over, well, everything, the average person has had no experience with quantum computing. Does this matter?

Practitioners in both fields are certainly guilty of hyping up their wares, but part of the problem for would-be quantum proponents is that the current generation of quantum computers is essentially useless. As we detail in our special report on the state of the industry (see “Quantum computers have finally arrived, but will they ever be useful?”), the race is now on to build a machine that can actually do useful computations of a kind not possible on regular computers.

The lack of a clear use case hasn’t prevented tech giants from forcibly injecting AI into the software we use every day, but bringing quantum computing to the masses in the same way is much more difficult due to the finicky nature of this hardware. You will probably never own a personal quantum computer – instead, the industry is targeting businesses and governments.

Perhaps that is why quantum computer builders seem to be retaining a foot in science, publishing peer-reviewed research while also drumming up business. The big AI firms seem to have all but given up the publishing part – why bother, when you can simply charge people a monthly fee to use your tech, whether or not it actually works?

The quantum approach is the right one. If you are promising a technology that will transform research, industry and society, explaining how it works in the most open way possible is the only means of actually convincing people to believe the hype.

It may not be showy, but in the long run it is substance, not style, that really matters. So, by all means, aim to revolutionise the world – but please, do show your working.