As classical computing approaches its physical limits, quantum computing offers exponential computational advantages, yet the current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era is severely constrained by high error rates, decoherence, and control challenges. This has catalyzed quantum artificial intelligence (QAI), a synergistic and bidirectional interdisciplinary field. This review analyzes the “AI for Quantum” framework, where AI addresses quantum bottlenecks, and the “Quantum for AI” framework, where quantum computing enables novel computational paradigms for artificial intelligence.
The “AI for Quantum” framework elaborates the role of AI in addressing hardware bottlenecks. Specifically, this encompasses machine learning for autonomous device characterization, calibration, and high-fidelity readout, along with the development of advanced AI-based decoders and hardware-aware quantum error correction codes, as well as the optimization of quantum compilation.
The “Quantum for AI” framework surveys the progression from early algorithms such as HHL and QSVM to currently prevalent variational quantum algorithms and quantum neural networks. The primary obstacles are critically examined, including the barren plateau phenomenon and the exponential concentration of quantum kernels, together with their mitigation strategies. The review also covers advances in quantum optimization, such as quantum annealing and the quantum approximate optimization algorithm, and the emergence of advanced models like quantum natural language processing.
This bidirectional fusion represents a pivotal strategy for facilitating the transition from the NISQ era toward fault-tolerant computation and the development of next-generation, hybrid quantum-classical intelligent systems.