Artificial intelligence in the digital twins: State of the art, challenges, and future research topics

Advanced computer technologies such as big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, digital twins, and edge computing have been applied in various fields as digitalization has progressed. To study the status of the application of digital twins in the combination with AI, this paper classifies the applications and prospects of AI in digital twins by studying the research results of the current published literature. We discuss the application status of digital twins in the four areas of aerospace, intelligent manufacturing in production workshops, unmanned vehicles, and smart city transportation, and we review the current challenges and  topics that need to be looked forward to in the future. It was found that the integration of digital twins and AI has significant effects in aerospace flight detection simulation, failure warning, aircraft assembly, and even unmanned flight. In the virtual simulation test of automobile autonomous driving, it can save 80% of the time and cost, and the same road conditions reduce the parameter scale of the actual vehicle dynamics model and greatly improve the test accuracy. In the intelligent manufacturing of production workshops, the establishment of a virtual workplace environment can provide timely fault warning, extend the service life of the equipment, and ensure the overall workshop operational safety. In smart city traffic, the real road environment is simulated, and traffic accidents are restored, so that the traffic situation is clear and efficient, and urban traffic management can be carried out quickly and accurately. Finally, we looked forward to the future of digital twins and AI, hoping to provide a reference for future research in related fields.