Emerging Opportunities

Digital Twins

A digital twin is a live virtual replica of a physical thing you can test and experiment on in software instead of reality. Its deeper lesson: the enormous value of a cheap, safe model for testing expensive, risky real-world decisions before you make them. Simulate before you commit.

  • Intermediate
  • 11 min total
  • 12 chapters

What decision this helps you make: Whether to build or use digital twins to test before acting, and, more broadly, how to de-risk costly decisions by simulating them cheaply first.

What this topic is

A continuously-updated virtual replica of a physical thing or system, mirrored via sensor data, so it can be observed, tested, and experimented on in software instead of in the real world.

Why it matters

It lets you simulate before you commit, and reveals the general, high-leverage value of a cheap, safe model for testing expensive, risky real decisions first.

Who should learn it

Would-be founders in industry/infrastructure, and anyone learning to de-risk costly decisions by simulating them cheaply.

What you will understand

  • A digital twin mirrors a real thing so you can test in software
  • Mistakes in the model are free; mistakes in reality are expensive
  • It lets you simulate, predict, and optimize before committing
  • The value of a cheap sandbox for expensive real-world decisions

Prerequisites

Common misconception

"You learn best by doing it for real." Sometimes, but reality is an unforgiving, expensive teacher, and many mistakes there are irreversible. A cheap model lets you make and learn from mistakes for free before betting the real thing, which is why simulating first so often beats committing and finding out.