Over the past 20 years, artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly transformed industry, taking an organisation's ability to optimise processes and proactively detect and solve problems to a whole new level. As a result of the increasing adoption of digital transformation, AI continues to provide benefits across a range of industrial processes. This has resulted in the extensive use of digital twins – virtual representations of physical objects, systems or factories that are created through data gathered from Internet of Things (IoT) devices, advanced computer systems and digital processes. AI is the brain behind the digital twin. By applying various forms of AI – such as neural networks, computer vision, and machine learning – in different ways, it can create targeted solutions presented in the form of analytics.

Shipyards that build large and complex ships are dependent on accurate project management. New techniques such as artificial intelligence and machine learning make it possible to design more efficient processes by making use of historical data. That is exactly what the Floor2Plan tool developed by the Dutch company Floorganise does, making artificial intelligence a key element of the optimisation process in shipbuilding. 'The earlier you can identify and resolve risks, the less impact they will have on the entire process. That's the core idea behind the Floor2Plan tool,' explains Ronald de Vries of Floorganise.

Organisations continually strive to strike a balance between increasing equipment efficiency and reducing overall maintenance costs. Asset service engineers and quality departments across industries, such as airlines, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, telecom, automobiles, and others, are pushed continuously to optimise their planning and operational expenses. As the Industry 4.0 paradigm continues to evolve, the Digital Twins technology provides a pragmatic opportunity to leverage virtual models to also enable impact points such as to predict failures, prescribe actions, and support digital supply chain networks. A digital twin, by definition, offers a seamless convergence of the physical and digital worlds -- creating an ever-evolving digital profile of a physical asset based on its historical and current behaviour. The idea of using digital models to optimise asset efficiency is not new.

Bioelectronics has recently hit the headlines as Google has teamed up with GlaxoSmithKline, mixing chemistry and biology to develop implantable electronic devices that can help treat chronic diseases. The whole area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing at a rapid pace but is still often built around auto-bot style tools, which provide an intelligent question and answer interaction. However, what happens when you have more complex business processes that require more than a simple'yes' or'no' response? Most information and content repositories, and their subsequent business process flows, are based on modelling years of experience to provide semi-automated and compliant business processes. They enable organisations to adhere to standards and operate as efficiently as possible, or so it would seem.