A system and method include techniques for: generating, by a quantum autoencoder, based on a set of quantum states encoded in a set of qubits, a decoder circuit that acts on a subset of the set of qubits, a size of the subset being less than a size of the set; and generating a reduced-cost circuit, the reduced-cost circuit comprising: (1) a new parameterized quantum circuit acting only on the subset of the set of qubits, and (2) the decoder circuit.