ARM Hub Executive Manager Allison Bambrick chaired the "Something Digital" Quantum Panel on August 26th, asking what artificial intelligence and quantum computing mean for each other, and what their intersection could mean for the future of jobs, industry and security.

Allison was joined by Naipeng Dong of The University of Queensland, Sam Forbes from Dovetale Sports, and National Quantum Computing Testbed Facility researcher and physicist William Campbell.

We asked Allison to bring a few of the takeaways back to share.

In as few words as possible, what is quantum computing?

"Quantum computing uses the laws of quantum physics to process information in fundamentally different ways to the computers we use now. It won't replace classical computers, but it has the potential to be a very powerful tool that will change our understanding of complex fields such as biology & energy." 

How does AI intersect with quantum computing?

"Both fields are evolving very quickly & are benefitting from each other.  AI is already being used to improve the modelling & fabrication of quantum computing hardware. AI is also working on the algorithms that will run on useful quantum computers. Quantum technologies in the future are likely to help us ease the rising energy & computing costs we are seeing from AI." 

What are the possible benefits / advantages? And what does that mean for Australian industry and manufacturing?

"There are tremendous advantages from both technologies & we are very fortunate to have genuine expertise in these fields in Australia. The opportunity for industry is to begin to engage. A good starting point is cybersecurity. Dr Naipeng Dong shared with us that an immediate priority is to prepare for post quantum cryptography. Data that is not protected is vulnerable to bad actors who can "harvest now & decrypt later".  The good news is auditing, cleaning & restructuring data not only reduces decryption risks it also gives you a competitive edge when deploying AI tools."

The fast takeaway message from the panel is to start now, not wait. Preparing your data for post quantum security is the same groundwork that makes AI adoption work, so the effort pays off twice. If that is on your radar, ARM Hub can help you begin.