The University of Pittsburgh is leading a new research project focused on automating the scientific process using artificial intelligence. The project aims to harness a new type of quantum computing that could lead to discoveries in chemistry and materials science, according to a community announcement.
The initiative is led by Youtao Zhang, a professor in the School of Computing and Information, and is supported by the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission. This national effort seeks to enable scientific discovery through AI.
Potential impact on scientific research
Circuit-based quantum computing typically isolates pairs of qubits to perform calculations. Zhang’s project, however, will explore measurement-based quantum computing, which uses interconnected networks of qubits. While
this approach offers several advantages, it requires significant computational power and the development of new algorithms to analyze the data.
To address these challenges, the research team is developing AI agents to automate various tasks.
“We’re building AI that can automatically design, optimize and verify measurement-based quantum computing, automatically discovering better ways to build quantum computations,” Zhang said. “By automating the workflow, the project aims to accelerate discoveries in chemistry, materials science and energy.”
Team includes experts from multiple institutions
The project includes assistant professor Junyu Liu and associate professor Xulong Tang from Pitt’s School of Computing and Information, along with collaborators from Virginia Tech and Argonne National Laboratory. The researchers are designing specialized AI agents to handle different aspects of the research, from determining measurements to developing new principles and optimizing processes for hardware, according to the announcement.
This project is part of the Genesis Mission, a national initiative to accelerate breakthroughs in energy and scientific discovery by combining AI, supercomputing, quantum systems and advanced scientific instruments.
This article by Gabby Sartori was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pitt leads AI‑quantum project in DOE’s Genesis Mission
