(Jan 8) Enabling Probabilistic Learning Models by Quantum Computing

Quantum machine learning brings quantum computing to learning models, but it remains an open question what are the learning protocols that can benefit the most from quantum resources. Furthermore, the programming of quantum computers still has not been abstracted from gate-level manipulations and basic algorithmic primitives. Probabilistic programming is an emergent paradigm in the design of programming languages for statistical inference and machine learning: it could be a good fit for developing learning algorithms on quantum computers. For example, various types of probabilistic graphical models — Bayesian networks, Markov networks, conditional random fields, hidden Markov models and even Kalman filters — compactly represent the joint probability distribution of a system. Generally, probabilistic inference in graphical models is a #P-complete problem. Approximate inference is a way around it, and this is where quantum-enhanced sampling can give an advantage. In this talk, we argue that NISQ-era devices need a fresh approach to developing algorithms and that probabilistic graphical models are a primary target for quantum machine learning in the near term.