Scientists are building a quantum computer that "acts like a brain"

A new research project aims to harness the power of quantum computers to build a new type of neural network -- work the researchers say could usher in the next generation of artificial intelligence. "My colleagues and I instead hope to build the first dedicated neural network computer, using the latest'quantum' technology rather than AI software," wrote Michael Hartmann, a professor at Heriot-Watt University who's leading the research, in a new essay for The Conversation. "By combining these two branches of computing, we hope to produce a breakthrough which leads to AI that operates at unprecedented speed, automatically making very complex decisions in a very short time." A neural network is a type of machine learning algorithm loosely modeled on a biological brain, which learns from examples in order to deal with new inputs. Quantum computers take advantage of subatomic particles that can exist in more than one state at a time to circumvent the limitations of old-fashioned binary computers.