Ethical Frameworks for Agentic Digital Twins: Decision-Making Autonomy vs Human Oversight

Abstract

This paper discusses the ethical aspects of the agentic nature of digital twins in the financial, military, and healthcare industries since digital twins are replacing decision-making with autonomy. Some major ethical concerns are introduced by the trend of machine autonomy being revolved around the strike of balance between autonomous systems and human control. The paper discusses the domain of autonomy, accountability, and transparency in digital twins and ethical implications thereof in high risk areas. By using AI ethics and explanatory frameworks, and simulating policies, real-life cases are evaluated to understand the successes and the challenges of adopting autonomous digital twins. The paper points to the necessity of good ethical governance where the proper and transparent decision making and consideration of human control would be encouraged. Lastly, the paper presents models of introducing digital twins in critical industries safely and ethically.