Quantum computers have the opportunity to be transformative for a variety of computational tasks. Recently, there have been proposals to use the unsimulatably of large quantum devices to perform regression, classification, and other machine learning tasks with quantum advantage by using kernel methods. While unsimulatably is a necessary condition for quantum advantage in machine learning, it is not sufficient, as not all kernels are equally effective. Here, we study the use of quantum computers to perform the machine learning tasks of one- and multi-dimensional regression, as well as reinforcement learning, using Gaussian Processes. By using approximations of performant classical kernels enhanced with extra quantum resources, we demonstrate that quantum devices, both in simulation and on hardware, can perform machine learning tasks at least as well as, and many times better than, the classical inspiration. Our informed kernel design demonstrates a path towards effectively utilizing quantum devices for machine learning tasks.
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