Not so fast. But s/he who hesitates will be lost. (Especially when it comes to businesses.)
Your digital twin may not replace you, but it wants you to understand him/her. Speaking of the term digital twin, just when IT TLAs (technology three-letter-acronyms) reached a disgustingly excessive point, we were saved by a return to everyday words we all can understand. For example, all generations grew up knowing what a cloud is. And artificial has been part of our diet for decades now. And now the use of digital and twin are more words we can all relate to. Furthermore, all the garbled acronyms like Saas, Iaas, Paas, … AI, ML, NLP, DLT, and a host of others can now be embodied into your “Digital Twin”. Maybe this will make the advances in technology so much easier to understand! In fact, with the help of technology your entire being can be mind-melded into your own digital twin.
So what is this “digital twin”? At a low level, it is simply an edge device monitoring and reporting on the health of a machine. Rather than you physically measuring, observing, and communicating it yourself. Moving up the scale to where it may freak out some it can be your digital human twin that replaces some of what consumes you. But that can be a money-maker for you! His/her salary or wages get paid to you. (At least until the time when s/he gets smart enough to change this formula).
So will your digital twin actually replace you? For now, and for some time, the answer is a resounding no. Yet some operational processes have already been replaced by digital robots and some physical work by physical robots. You may already have a robot vacuum cleaner and have likely spoken or texted with a bot on a website or “working” in a call center. When it comes to handling emotions and showing empathy digital has a long way to go. So at least for the foreseeable future, your human being can rest assured of being personified but not replaced.
If any of this seems like sci-fi or you are stuck in the denial stage, there are three things you must think about, and then take action:
- All things digital is real. And technology is increasing exponentially.
- Unless you are a hermit, you need to learn enough to understand digital.
- If you run a business you need to become digital and change your business model if it relies entirely on the value of physical things.
If you would like to discuss what can help your business be digital let’s talk! You can schedule some time on my calendar here: https://calendly.com/tim_montgomery/30-minute-free-business-application-consultation (Please no solicitors.)