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FrancoAngeli Journals

Geography and artificial intelligence: Spatialities, networks, narratives in the algorithmic society

No. 1 (2026)

Artificial Intelligence as a Model of Reality. Reflections on Digital Twins

  • Paola Zamperlin
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/rgioa1-2026oa22427
Submitted
aprile 8, 2026
Published
2026-05-11

Abstract

This paper critically examines the paradigm of digital twins, analyzing their technological development, emerging applications, and epistemological and spatial implications. The increasing adoption of digital twins in fields such as industrial manufacturing, urban planning, medicine, and climate modeling reflects a paradigmatic shift in the relationship between digital models and physical reality. Supported by artificial intelligence and advanced data acquisition and management systems, digital twins function as dynamic and interactive replicas of real-world systems, enabling decision-making through predictive simulations. However, critical issues emerge related to model reliability, the selection of significant variables, risks of standardization, and the widening of regional disparities in access to and deployment of such technologies. Digital twins thus emerge not merely as technological artefacts, but as spatially and cognitively performative constructs, whose adoption raises ethical, political, and methodological questions concerning the representation and transformation of territorial realities.

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