Artificial intelligence is already surpassing the human version in many ways and the gap could be increased further by fully operational quantum computers
Published 15th Oct 2026, 06:00 BST
The revolution in quantum computing has been a long time coming, so much so that a degree of cynicism has started to set in. Will it ever actually happen? Like the virtually free and abundant energy that might, one day, be supplied by nuclear fusion, it has promised much but delivered relatively little.
However, a team led by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and EPCC, the UK's first National Supercomputing Centre, has now made an apparently significant breakthrough. They have developed an algorithm that enables ordinary computers to run quantum simulations that previously only the world’s most powerful supercomputers were able to carry out. And this could speed up the development of quantum computers, which are currently small and, embarrassingly, prone to mistakes.
Given warnings that artificial intelligence might eventually decide to destroy humanity, some may fear the consequences of unleashing quantum-powered AI bots on the world. However, if they can be persuaded to ditch their criminal tendencies and go straight, they might just solve the fusion problem – and more than a few others besides.