Digital Twin Consortium Releases Checklist for AI Agents

Recently, the Digital Twin Consortium announced it's entering the next phase of its AI Agent Capabilities Periodic Table Framework (AIA CPT), described as a tool "to help organizations design, evaluate, and assess  intelligent agent–based systems." The AIA CPT is a supplement to the previously published Digital Twin Capabilities Periodic Table. The consortium believes, with this table, organizations can move from “we need AI agents” to “here’s exactly what to build.” The table separates capabilities into six columns:

• Perception and knowledge
• Cognition and reasoning
• Learning and adaptation
• Action and execution
• Interaction and collaboration
• Governance and safety

Pieter van Schalkwyk, CEO of XMPro and Chair for the Digital Twin Interoperability Task Group in the Industrial IoT Consortium, expects AI-driven functions to become part of intelligent digital twins. "There is a lot of agent-washing," he warned, of the software vendors' tendency to market their products as AI agents. For first-time digital twin adopters, he proposes thinking of the digital twin as a job applicant. In this hypothetical scenario, they might ask, "What is the problem I'm hiring the digital twin to solve? What are its capabilities--its resume?" he explained. 

Van Schalkwyk thinks, armed with the table, digital twin solution buyers will be able to ask more concrete questions, such as, "Do I need collaboration functions? Do I need a ChatGPT-like interface? Do I need reasoning in my digital twin?" he said. 

The chart, he explained, was the outcome of working with consortium member organizations that were looking to adopt digital twin technologies. "So we were able to validate [these capabilities] with them through their use cases," he added. "We might still fine-tune the chart based on feedback, but the core capabilities shouldn't change."

The important thing, Van Schalkwyk pointed out, is to remember the first basic question: what is the problem you're trying to solve with the digital twin? The answer to this question may lead you to consult the AIA CPT to look for specific characteristics in the solution. 

For the full interview with Van Schalkwyk, listen to the podcast.