Models vs infrastructures? The role of digital twins’ hype in anticipation

Join us for an AI Ethics & Society event with our colleague Dr Ola Michalec to explore the role of digital twins in the UK energy sector as a strong manifestation of hype's practical social impact.

When: Thursday 26 February, 13:30-15:00.

Where: In person Lister Learing and Teaching Centre, Room 1.3, 5 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9SU, Scotland and online using the following link:

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ODVkNTI3NjktMGNjOC00NWQ3LWIyYTYtNWY0MmMyM2ZkY2Yy%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%224e8d09f7-cc79-4ccb-9149-a4238dd17422%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22bea216dc-6ffd-4bb0-89de-838afca3b865%22%7d

This event will be chaired by Dr Vassilis Galanos (University of Stirling) and is jointly organised by the AI Ethics & Society group and the Hype Studies network.

Abstract:

In this talk, I will share results from a project on developing digital twins in the energy industry. I will present an argument from a recent paper in Environmental Science and Policy and complement it with reflections on engagement with practitioners as well as building a tool called “Oblique Manoeuvres” (see https://obliquetools.com/ for a work-in-progress version).
Scientists and practitioners working on digital twins promise to deliver replicas of the energy system and its components, able to automatically operate in real-time and generate countless scenarios to advise with planning of new infrastructures. Despite the enthusiasm across the industry, digital twins received criticisms for being mere empty buzzwords, unable to contribute to the ‘twin transition’ of digital and energy sectors. This presentation aims to understand the phenomenon of hype surrounding digital twins, treating it as an attempt to surface or conceal particular issues regarding energy governance. The analysis reveals that initially hype helped to enrol a broad community of stakeholders through the promises of detailed, real-time modelling, developed in tandem with responsible innovation tools for data scientists. Soon after, this framing brought about disappointment and confusion. With data access emerging as a key challenge, practitioners are re-aligning the agenda towards the creation of the infrastructure for data sharing. However, the debate on the ethics and politics of digital twins stayed with the initial framing of ‘digital twins-as-models’. In other words, the politics of data sharing were concealed. As such, digital twins require sociotechnical analysis beyond the modelling-specific concerns of bias, accuracy or explainability. Energy governance should focus instead on anticipating the reconfiguration of the political and economic relationships enabled by new data sharing infrastructures.

Bio: Ola Michalec is a Lecturer at the Bristol University Business School and Bristol Digital Futures Institute. Ola’s research interests revolve around understanding how experts from diverse fields resolve tensions between maintaining and innovating critical infrastructures, with a particular focus on energy systems. Her current project explores the ebbs and flows of hype in the context of developing digital twins in the UK. Ola plays an active role in several communities such as the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security or the Advisory Board for the Alan Turing Institute Digital Twin Network+.

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