Quantum Curiosity and Consumer AI
How a 100 year-old Theory Could Supercharge Everyday Tech
Are you curious about how a century-old scientific breakthrough could remake the apps you use and the gadgets in your pocket? This week, to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of quantum mechanics, we’ll be taking a detour from AI to examine quantum computing, a technology does not have as much media coverage but has the potential to revolutionise many industries in the near future. In this post, we’ll cover:
🤔 Why is this a significant moment for quantum science?
🌀 What exactly is quantum computing?
🚀 What could it mean for Consumer AI, now and next?
🔎 Who is developing quantum computing apps today
Why now is a significant moment for Quantum
2025 is not just another year in science. This month is the centenary of Werner Heisenberg’s pioneering paper on quantum mechanics which changed our understanding of the underlying nature of reality. The United Nations has declared this the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. The UK and Cambridge University in particular have played a central role in the development of the field from the outset - Paul Dirac’s famous publications on Quantum Mechanics remain foundational to anyone studying Physics at university today. A recent event at the Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory included a panel session with leading researchers entitled Harnessing our Quantum Future which explored how UK scientists, entrepreneurs and policymakers aim to turn quantum science into commercial and societal value. With mission-led funding and open trials, the speakers argued that the UK can retain its quantum leadership and deliver safer, smarter products and services within the coming decade. The key takeaways for investors from the panel:
Strategic platform: Cambridge anchors the £1.1 billion UK National Quantum Programme: five quantum research hubs, 30 universities and 100+ companies feeding start-ups like Riverlane and Nu Quantum and drawing the world’s No. 2 Quantum VC flow after the US.
Historical springboard: Cambridge’s numerous contributions span Dirac’s equations to ground-breaking research being conducted on quantum sensors for healthcare. The Quantum Centennial is being used as a rallying cry for fresh talent and investment.
Diverse applications: UK research is carving out real-world impacts across multiple fields from ultra-precise navigation, advanced healthcare sensors, secure networks, and resilient grids. Potential benefits include safer infrastructure, greener power grids, faster drug discovery and autonomous transport,
Hurdles Remain: Formidable barriers include steep costs, skills shortages, and scarce scale-up finance. There is also a challenge in developing “quantum intuition” across the general public suggesting it’s not just engineers who need to pay attention.
Call to action: Shift quickly to field trials with clinicians, logistics and defence users; test devices in messy real-world settings; build trusted supply chains; and speak in plain English to broaden engagement and de-risk investment.
What Exactly Is Quantum Computing?
The Promise
Quantum computing is a new kind of information processing that exploits the rules of quantum physics to tackle certain problems far faster than today’s best supercomputers can manage. In essence, in quantum computing we swap the binary “0 or 1” bits of classical computers for quantum bits, or qubits which behave differently as follows:
💻 Classical Computers:
Use bits (0 or 1)
Each is either on or off, simple as a coin which is either heads or tails
Tackles hard problems by checking answers one at a time
⚛️ Quantum Computers:
Use qubits (quantum bits). Thanks to superposition, a qubit can be 0 and 1 at the same time. Think of it like a spinning coin which is not in a fixed state until it collapses.
With entanglement, qubits can coordinate instantly, even when separated by great distances.
The bottom line is that quantum machines can evaluate many possibilities simultaneously in parallel rather than step-by-step sequentially. This opens the door to tackling problems like molecule simulation, system optimisation, and complex prediction exponentially faster than classical computers.
Think of it this way: Looking for a needle in a haystack? Classical computers check each straw, one after the other whilst Quantum computers check all straws at the same time! 🌾
The Challenges
If it sounds too good to be true then to an extent it is! There are several profound issues which limit the usefulness of quantum computing in practice:
Only specific problems benefit from the approach. Quantum speedups only apply to problems that match a narrow set of mathematical structures that can be used in quantum algorithms. Currently, only a handful of algorithms such as factoring, unstructured search, and certain simulation routines are known to offer a clear advantage.
Qubits are fragile and must be kept ultra-cold. Quantum bits lose their quantum state easily due to noise and interference. Even small environmental disturbances can corrupt results. Most quantum computers operate near absolute zero (–273°C) to preserve qubit stability, requiring complex and expensive cryogenic systems which is why they are so expensive and look so alien.
Error rates are high. Unlike classical bits, qubits are error-prone. Effective quantum computing at scale requires sophisticated error correction, which may demand thousands of physical qubits to represent a single “logical” qubit.
Scaling is hard. Building stable, coherent systems with millions of qubits, which are needed for solving truly valuable problems, is still a major technical and engineering challenge.
The programming is still immature. Quantum software is in its infancy, with limited developer tools, compilers, and algorithm libraries. Writing efficient quantum programs remains highly specialised.
Hardware diversity complicates progress. Competing platforms using different technologies each have unique capabilities and limitations, making it hard to standardise on the hardware in use. The hardware used by IBM and Google is based on superconducting qubits in a chip operating at extremely low temperatures, close to absolute zero, approximately -273°C. Here’s what the housing around that looks like and this is just a section of the full system:
Image: Quantum computer with superconducting qubits. Almost all of it is a dilution refrigerator for keeping the tiny rectangular chip shown centre bottom at a temperature close to absolute zero!
How Will Quantum Computing Impact Consumer AI?
Once we crack the daunting Engineering challenges, quantum computing has the potential to transform the your experience of consumer apps, services, and devices in four ways:
🏎️ 1. Supercharged AI Performance
Faster Training Time: While still early-stage, Quantum Machine Learning (QML) offers the potential to slash the time it takes to train neural networks pushing AI experience from “good enough” to “uncannily intelligent” and eventually, near-instant.
More Accurate Predictions: Quantum-enhanced models could spot subtle patterns traditional AI misses unlocking sharper fraud alerts, real-time translations, and predictive health insights.
Richer Interactive Experiences: Games, AR/VR, and AI companions could become more adaptive and immersive thanks to faster learning and deeper contextual awareness.
🔒 2. Security & Privacy Breakthroughs
Quantum-Proof Encryption: Or Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) as it is also known. Tomorrow’s quantum machines could break today’s encryption but also inspire new, quantum-safe methods built to resist even the most powerful attacks.
Stronger Digital Safety: These post-quantum tools will help safeguard your data, finances, identity, and smart devices from future threats ensuring long-term trust in your digital life.
🎯 3. Next-Level Personalization
Eerily Accurate Suggestions: Quantum-boosted AI could learn your tastes and behaviours faster powering hyperpersonalized feeds, recommendations, and digital assistants.
Smarter Search & Discovery: Expect instant translations, faster content discovery, and assistants that predict what you want before you even ask.
🩺 4. Health & Wellness Revolution
Accelerated Drug Discovery: Quantum-powered AI could analyze genetic and clinical data in record time helping uncover new treatments and tailored therapies.
Smarter Wellness Tools: From diagnostics to wearable insights, quantum may help AI detect risks earlier and suggest more precise, personalized care.
And this is just the start. There are likely to be other applications that emerge in time. The full extent of quantum computing’s impact on consumers, rather appropriately, is subject to an uncertainty principle of its own.
Who’s Developing Quantum Computing Apps Today? We are!
Right now, building quantum computing applications is a pretty specialised concern. You need to have an awareness of how to architect and build quantum algorithms. It is possible for developers to access quantum computing infrastructure through cloud service interfaces to experiment with what is possible. Here are some of the main quantum computing developer platforms accessible in the UK today:
Several companies ranging from startups to multinationals are building commercial products or piloting advanced applications on top of these quantum developer platforms today. Most are still in proof-of-concept (PoC) or early deployment phases due to the immaturity of the hardware, but real commercial engagement is happening. Here's a breakdown of a few examples:
HSBC is evaluating portfolio optimization and fraud detection use cases using IBM’s Qiskit platform.
Goldman Sachs & Accenture are developing quantum finance libraries and toolkits on Amazon’s Braket.
Volkswagen have trialled traffic flow and vehicle routing using the D-Wave platform.
Direct consumer applications are harder to find today and we would speculate will not become mainstream for a few more years to come. Likely initial use cases include real-time games, simulation apps and learning tools leveraging quantum APIs.
As a special treat for regular readers :), you can get a glimpse of an example of a learning tool use case today with an app called Quantum Curious which is aimed at demystifying quantum computing. It comprises a web front end vibe coded with Lovable and a Python backend which interfaces with IBM’s Qiskit SDK. The app is available to play with here. Here’s the Concepts View:
The app is able to interface with simulated hardware to run a quantum algorithm called Grover’s Algorithm for super-fast search. However, a user can also interface with a real IBM quantum computer in the Hardware View. In the case of the screenshot below, that computer is in Aachen and we have successfully run Grover’s with 2 qubits correctly predicting the target state. The example here is a toy demonstration than anything else and an expensive one to boot since it costs around £20 for 13 seconds of usage and it takes 4-5 seconds to run the algorithm so it’s about £7 a pop! You will need to create your own IBM account if you would like to do likewise in the app. It felt worth doing it to experience “spooky action” at a distance. There is an inherent uncanny and mysterious quality about seeing an app written using non-deterministic AI coding tools in the UK interface to the ultimate probability machine, a quantum computer, super-cooled to close to zero Kelvin in Germany a hundred years on from when these two nations arguably led quantum theory development.
Stay Curious - Here’s What You Need to Know
🔍 Quantum isn’t mainstream… yet: Much of quantum computing’s impact will unfold quietly behind the scenes embedded in cloud services, AI models, and optimisation tools. Expect gradual rollout over the next decade.
⚠️ The barriers are real: As discussed earlier, the challenges span hardware, software, and especially algorithms. Progress on quantum-native algorithms remains slow as highlighted in this interesting and candid piece from a former quantum computing researcher:
🧪 The tech is already here but unevenly distributed:
You can run real quantum code today using platforms like IBM’s Qiskit SDK just like we did. It’s early-stage, costly, and constrained much like cloud computing was in its infancy and look what happened there.🔐 A security shake-up may be coming:
If quantum computing matures, it could break today’s encryption but also power new defences. Big players like HSBC, Barclays and Mastercard are already preparing for the quantum security era.🧠 Consumer AI will get a boost:
As quantum techniques mature, they could supercharge the AI behind your apps and devices making them faster, smarter, more personal, and more secure.🚀 Learning quantum now might pay off handsomely down the line:
Quantum skills are in short supply. Many companies are outsourcing expertise for now rather than building in-house but those who do invest in building deep knowledge early may find themselves in high demand. If things take off, those with expertise are likely to be able to be able to dictate terms:In the current era of a quantum talent shortage, particularly within industry, the role of the expert middleman is looking particularly lucrative.”
Final Thoughts: Why Quantum Is Important
Quantum isn’t just a faster computer chip. It’s a leap in hardware, software and algorithms that may make tomorrow’s AI bolder, more creative, more secure, and sometimes downright magical. This revolution is already in flight so it could be a wise move to be in the know and have some awareness of how and when to leverage quantum computing in your consumer AI application. It means you’ll be able to spot, and perhaps even leverage, a huge new wave in consumer tech.
Ready to see what quantum computing will make possible in your daily life? Keep following ConsumerAIDecoded for hands-on dives into the first B2C quantum breakthroughs, and meet the startups and brands working to make them real. Stay curious, stay ahead! ✨
Tools used this week
Tables built with Datawrapper for accessibility
We tried Genspark this week but used all the free credits in no time and decided not to subscribe as value added seemed limited (tried the AR for fashion feature and it didn’t work for us)
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