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AI investment and its potential effects on urban digital twins | Computer Weekly

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AI investment and its potential effects on urban digital twins | Computer Weekly


A popular topic of conversation of late has been the existence of a bubble in artificial intelligence (AI) and the likelihood that this bubble will burst with great detriment to the IT industry as a whole. Yet, and perhaps surprisingly, the impact of a bursting bubble on digital twins might not be as problematic as one might think.

Ready adoption and fast diffusion of AI might warrant the tremendous investment flows of past years and could create revenue and profit streams quickly. We might well be standing on the precipice of a bubble popping that will lead to massive valuation corrections, but digital twins stand to benefit from advancing AI either way – however, the timeline of AI-enabled applications of digital twins might move.

Since the start of 2023, AI-related companies have ballooned in valuation. OpenAI has been closely associated with starting the AI frenzy with the release of ChatGPT at end of 2022. The company was valued at $29bn in 2023 and reached $500bn in October of 2025, with observers wondering if the company could pull off a $1tn initial public offering soon.

AI-chip leader Nvidia’s stock meanwhile has multiplied by 13 between the beginning of 2023 and end of October 2025, making it the first $5tn company ever. Even companies that are related but are not at the centre of AI developments increased substantially in value, with the stock price of Microsoft and Alphabet more than doubling and tripling, respectively, during that time period.

AI encompasses many different types of technologies and has many use cases that it should be seen as an enabling technology rather than a sole application or a market. AI will play a major role across virtually all application areas, but to varying degrees. Similar to the way the internet shaped past decades – and will continue to shape coming decades – AI will transform industries for good in the long term, and potential potholes on the path that create setbacks are only par for the course. 

Looking back to gaze ahead

It is worth recalling the dot.com era from the end of the previous century to judge AI’s current hype. The Nasdaq Composite index – a stock index that skews toward information-technology companies – peaked at more than 5,100 points in March 2000 and then rapidly declined to a final low of just barely above 1,100 points in October 2002 (it took more than 12 years then to move beyond 5,000 points again).

The January 2000 Super Bowl event marked the height of the bubble with 14 in-game ads by dot.com companies – only one of them still active as an independent company today. Now, many analysts see the signs of a tremendous AI bubble accumulate.

A crash is likely in the making. Similarly to 2000, a bursting bubble does not mean that AI will go away, as internet-enabled companies and business models did not vanish. On the contrary, AI will flourish as the internet did. In fact, many infrastructure elements such as datacentres will become affordable for general use after lofty valuations come down.

During the late 1990s, the construction of fibre communication networks was perceived as a tremendous business opportunity. The business never became as profitable as expected, but the initial excitement created an infrastructure of dark fibre – unused but readily available communication lines – that supports today’s business models as a commodity that can be readily leveraged.

AI as an enabling technology will boost capabilities and accelerate the use of advanced digital twins. In particular, digital twins that have to work with difficult-to-capture data and not completely understood real-world dynamics will benefit tremendously. Digital twins of machineries can rely on solid understanding of physics and measurable data that sensors can cost-effectively capture.

Factory environments have many known dynamics and interactions of equipment – even workers’ likely movement patterns can be plugged into simulations. But urban digital twins attempt to capture dynamics and behaviours of relevant elements across entire cities. They are not only subject to less understood dynamics but also phenomena that are difficult – often impossible – to measure.

AI can make available data usable and create data of unmeasurable phenomena. AI in digital twins also allow the use of scenarios to better prepare for sudden events that can affect the entire system in unexpected ways. City managers thereby can develop strategies for unusual weather events, pandemic-like occurrences or localised industrial accidents with ripple effects across the urban landscape.

Digital twins and AI to plan for tomorrow’s cities 

Digital twins of urban environments are difficult to design, implement and maintain. The potential impact such digital twins can have commercially and societally promises to be substantial, however. Because of the number of parameters, intersecting dynamics and range of conceivable scenarios, the benefits AI can provide in understanding urban environments are massive. AI and digital twins reinforce each other.

AI can speed up the building of digital twins by supporting code development for virtual environments. Such applications accelerate overall design development and allow embedding design details more easily. For clients and users, AI reduces costs, enables faster implementation of digital twins, and allows for quick and inexpensive changes and alterations as requirements change or new needs arise. In addition, AI can improve the interface experience between virtual environments as well as simulations of operations and users.

Ari Lightman, professor at Carnegie Mellon University, explains: “Generative AI would be used to look at the entire simulation and turn it into a summary for humans. It could tell me things I might be missing and summarise things in a way I can understand.”

AI doesn’t only benefit digital twins but digital twins also support AI’s capabilities. Scott Likens, emerging technology leader at PwC, says: “We’re using digital twins to generate information for large language models [LLMs]…We see opportunity to have the digital twins generate the missing pieces of data we need, and it’s more in line with the environment because it’s based on actual data.” Such synthetic data of missing pieces are also finding use in other applications as “AI, XR, digital twins set to transform robotics”.

Nvidia serves the market of smart cities as city planners and managers are turning to digital twins and AI agents for urban planning scenario analysis and data-driven operational decisions, according to the company. It is providing a range of solutions to enable users to create photo-realistic, simulation-ready digital twins of urban environments to optimise city operations.

A partnership of Japanese companies is developing the digital entertainment city Namba in Osaka, Japan. The aim is to create the world’s first smart city that integrates AI, extended reality [XR], and decentralised physical infrastructure networks [a blockchain-based approach to manage decentralised networks] on a city-wide scale. The group intends to offer services beyond entertainment and tourism. Namba, being a neighbourhood within Osaka, has a limited claim to a city-wide application of the concept, however.

The silver lining of AI overinvestment 

The existence of an AI investment bubble is increasingly perceived as a foregone conclusion. AI companies and technology suppliers are now even investing in each other’s operations, adding to lofty valuations. There are obvious indications of a bubble, but positive effects can emerge from the current investment excitement. Whatever the outcome, applications for digital twins will see their timeline solidify as the immediate future of AI plays out.

If use of AI applications proves to be an all-encompassing and rapidly growing market opportunity, the immense investment of the past couple of years will be retroactively viewed as forward-looking wisdom that locked in favourable competitive positions and profits for years to come. More likely though, investors have outrun their headlights, and expectations of adoption and diffusion of AI applications over the next years are vastly overrated.

If so, there will be a shock to the system like the burst of the dot.com bubble at the beginning of the century when the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by almost 80% within 30 months. Initial warnings existed, with the former chair of the Federal Reserve using the phrase “irrational exuberance” when discussing the development at the stock market in December of 1996. Warnings of an exuberant AI bubble are common today.

Bursting investment bubbles hurt investors and bring down many companies –25 years ago, a slew of dot.com companies vanished. But related overinvestment in infrastructure can make assets suddenly affordable, opening new opportunities. Such affordability changes cost structures that enable business models that could not have become successful at previous valuations. Infrastructure overhang – infrastructure build for rapid growth that does not materialise in the short run – leads to commodification of infrastructure elements, which can democratise a technology for incumbents and startups alike.

The over-investment in fibre during the dot.com years ended up creating dark fibre – overbuilt fibre cables for data transmission – and this infrastructure has served as a ready and inexpensive resource ever since. For AI, investment in datacentres is comparable to the fibre investment from 30 years ago.

Morgan Stanley analysts forecast datacentre spending globally of up to almost $3tn between now and 2028. The amount is staggering, and it is difficult to imagine use cases and adoption rates that will provide the required return on investment for virtually any business model. But as initial investors see their investments decrease or vanish, new players can snap up or use related infrastructures at bargain prices.

Alkesh Shah, a tech analyst with Bank of America, explains the underlying reason for such recurring dynamics: “You always overestimate how fast the change will happen, and you underestimate the magnitude of the change.”  

The impact digital twins will have on the marketplace will follow a similar dichotomy between today’s expectations of rate of change and tomorrow’s impact of such change. Digital twins require many technological bits and pieces to come together, and AI will play an important role for digital twins – if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow.

Martin Schwirn is the author of “Small data, big disruptions: How to spot signals of change and manage uncertainty” (ISBN 9781632651921). He is also senior advisor for strategic foresight at Business Finland, helping startups and incumbents to find their position in tomorrow’s marketplace. 



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I Tested 10 Popular Date-Night Boxes With My Hinge Dates

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I Tested 10 Popular Date-Night Boxes With My Hinge Dates


Same as the Five Senses deck above, this scratch-off card set happens in sequence, with optional “level up” cards to really push intimacy, and separate cards for each partner with secret directions. For this date, you’ll both bring a red item that you show at certain points to signify that you’re open to physical touch. Then you’ll go out to dinner and have intentional conversation, and every time a partner pulls out the red item, you’ll follow the prompts to initiate increasingly intimate physical acts, ranging from hand holding to neck kisses. So there we were, at Illegal Taqueria, edging each other over al pastor tacos (I kid).

Many of the cards urged a partner not to interrupt or solve problems, but ask questions and talk dirty. My date said, “I think this may be for couples who hate each other.” I had to agree. The second part of the date involved driving and stoplights, but since we were in Brooklyn, we walked down the trash-filled sidewalk and pretended to be a suburban couple on the fritz instead.

The rest of the date included buying things for sexy time, like whipped cream and blindfolds. I’m vegan and had no desire to lick cream from chest hair, so we came home, stripped, and did our best to keep our eyes closed (in lieu of a blindfold). It was overall a strange experience for us both, I think. If you and your partner need a lot of prompting to connect, compliment, and be physical, this set is for you.

Date: Greg, 10/10 (Note: I didn’t find this man on Hinge; I met him the old-fashioned way, in a bar at 2 am.)

Box: 6/10



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WIRED’s Guide to Actually Fun Valentine’s Day Gifts

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WIRED’s Guide to Actually Fun Valentine’s Day Gifts


Valentine’s Day is a sneaky one. It’s easy to let grabbing fun and unique Valentine’s Day gifts fall to the wayside while you recover from the Christmas holidays, but it’s not one to miss if you have a partner you want to shower with a little extra love.

If you’re feeling too wiped to shop, good news: I’ve got you covered. I’ve rounded up some of our favorite ideas for the year’s most romantic holiday, from Lego sets you can build as a date and date boxes filled with ideas to last you all year long to gorgeous flowers you can get delivered in a snap and cozy robes you’ll want to lounge in together. This guide all the Valentine’s Day gifts we’re excited to give this year.

Curious about what else we recommend? Don’t miss our Gifts for Lovers, Gifts for Moms, Gifts for Plant Lovers, Gifts for People Who Work from Home, and Best Blind Boxes for more gifts and shopping ideas.

Table of Contents

For a Gift That’s a Date

My husband and I are planning our fourth or fifth year of our favorite Valentine’s Day Date: building Lego sets together. We’ve done this for years, and then we get to enjoy the fruits (well, flowers) of our labor around the home forevermore. These sets serve as both the gift and the activity. Building the dried-flower centerpiece together was probably my all-time favorite, since you can each simultaneously work on one half and then click it together at the end, followed by each building a different-color bonsai tree.

For a Daytime Adventure

Retrospec

Weekender Crew Multi-Person Inflatable Paddle Board

Building on the idea of date activities that involve gifts, this multi-person paddleboard is a fun way to spend time outdoors while staying together the entire time. It’s massive, almost raftlike, so that it can support the weight of up to three adults, but once we got the hang of the size, it wasn’t hard to maneuver. Sometimes we’d both row together, sometimes I’d let my husband do all the work. It made for a lovely daytime adventure together, and I can’t wait for the next warm day for my husband and me to take this out on our local harbor again. It’s big enough that we could bring our son, though it’s much more peaceful as a date activity. It’s inflatable, and I’d recommend grabbing an electric filler since it takes a lot of manual pumping otherwise.

For Flowers on Demand

Image may contain: Jar, Pottery, Vase, Flower, Flower Arrangement, Plant, Potted Plant, Flower Bouquet, and Planter

Photograph: Boutayna Chokrane

The classic go-to for Valentine’s Day is, of course, flowers. WIRED reviewer Boutayna Chokrane tested several flower delivery services to find the best one to get sent to your home, and her favorite is the Ode à la Rose, specifically the Edith arrangements. The business was created by two former French bankers, and the arrangements’ design choices feel distinctly chic in a way only French romance can. The Edith bouquet is entirely Columbus double tulips from Holland, and come hand-tied in a travel vase a fun pink box. The flowers ship nationwide, and there’s same-day shipping in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, Miami, and Washington, DC.

For a Jewelry Upgrade

Maybe you’ve already exchanged rings, or maybe you’re looking for your first set without committing to I do. Either way, the most popular fitness tracker to get these days is a smart ring, and Oura is the ruler of the space. The latest model is the Ring 4, and it comes in both metallic and ceramic finishes. Many of my friends love theirs. I wish I had one, but they don’t make sense for my husband and me since we’re an aerialist and rock climber duo. Live my dreams for me and get this for your valentine (and yourself)!

For Your Fave Photographer

Aura

Aspen Digital Photo Frame

If your romantic partner loves to capture photos, a digital photo frame is the perfect gift (and you’ll benefit, too, as likely the number one fan of their photography!). I’m the photographer of our house, and our Aura frame is my husband’s favorite gadget because it showcases photos I’ve captured of our son and life together over the years. Our wedding photos can be found on there too, as well as the occasional good photo of me that he’s captured. It’s a monthly ritual for me to go through my camera roll and add my latest favorites. Aura’s my favorite because the range of frames is beautiful, and the storage is unlimited with no fees or subscriptions.

For the Cozy Couple

L.L. Bean

Scotch Plaid Flannel Robe

One of my favorite souvenirs I have around the house is a matching robe set that my husband and I bought on our honeymoon. Our all-cotton robes are from the Ten Thousand Waves Japanese spa in New Mexico (the final destination of a Southwestern US road trip) and are great for taking to the pool or using after a shower on a hot day. But I still love a good fluffy robe during the colder season, especially since it can double as a towel. Get your partner one of these cozy robes to give them something luxurious to use after their next everything shower or quick rinse-off. Cozy Earth’s robe is crazy-soft thanks to its blend of cotton and bamboo viscose, while this flannel robe from L.L.Bean is one of our favorites for anyone who works from home.

For Your Inner Theater Kids

If your partner loves to sing along to the Wicked soundtrack and is regularly suggesting karaoke as a group activity, then give them the gift of making karaoke happen anywhere with these gadgets. The Bonaok Karaoke Microphone is one of our favorite karaoke microphones, letting you sing anywhere without lugging bulky equipment. The Ikarao Shell S2 is a portable device with two mics, a built-in screen, and support for streaming services, so you can sing along to your favorite songs on Spotify.

For the Fitness Couple

Bombshell Sportswear

Workout Set

After the Christmas season, I saw a video on my For You page that roasted how every mom had clearly gotten a matching workout outfit set for Christmas and was out wearing it on Boxing Day. As a mom myself, all I could think of was how much I would love another matching workout set. I’m serious. They’re great for workouts, quick errands, and day care or school drop-off. My latest favorite set is from Bombshell Sportswear. The set is both super soft and fits securely without any annoying squeezing. It’s getting the most compliments of all my sets. I wish I’d sized up with the bolero, but as an aerialist, my lat muscles are a little bulkier than an everyday person’s.

Have a partner who doesn’t need a matching set? Try some fantastic running shoes instead, which are even more useful for both workouts and daily life. WIRED reviewer Adrienne So says these R.A.D. shoes are fantastic for a range of uses, as they’re designed for gym, HIIT, CrossFit, and hybrid workouts and are soft enough for treadmill running. They look fantastic, too.

For the Beloved Bookworms

Amazon

Kindle Paperwhite (2024, 12th Generation)

PopSockets

PopCase Kindle and PopGrip

A Kindle is always a great gift for anyone who reads in any format. Funny enough, my siblings and I are about to buy one for my dad for his birthday (two weeks before Valentine’s Day), and I recommended my favorite pick, the Kindle Paperwhite, since the standard Kindle is a little too small for his 6-foot-4 frame to hunch down over, and he doesn’t read enough illustrated books to make the Colorsoft the right jump for him. If they already have a Kindle, I’m still in love with my matching PopSockets Kindle case and grip, and they’ve since launched a new Bookish collection with beautiful designs.

For Some Bedroom Spice

The Adventure Challenge

… In Bed

The Fantasy Box

Yes, I Would

Looking to spice things up? These adventure boxes can add more fun to the bedroom without creating additional mental work for you and your partner. An offshoot from the Adventure Challenge, “The Adventure Challenge … In Bed” scratch-off date book has 50 date ideas designed specifically to help facilitate fun and connection in the bedroom. The dates are categorized by activity type in sections like food, dancing, “sexploration,” and more. Each date is covered by a black box, with only icons indicating required fields such as duration, cost, and more. Meanwhile, the Fantasy Box is a date-night box service offering a range of themes, from sexy wine tasting to a kinky poker night, all designed to help couples communicate and connect more intimately. Before opening the box, each partner will fill out a questionnaire of potential intimate acts, and this box comes with everything needed for a truly kinky night in: a satin blindfold, pleather paddle, lingerie, lube, massage gel, feather wand, mini vibrator, and silky wrist restraints. Molly Higgins


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The Information Networks That Connect Venezuelans in Uncertain Times

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The Information Networks That Connect Venezuelans in Uncertain Times


In the early morning hours of Saturday, January 3, the roar of bombs dropping from the sky announced the US military attack on Venezuela, waking the sleeping residents of La Carlota, in Caracas, a neighborhood adjacent to the air base that was a target of Operation Absolute Resolve.

Marina G.’s first thought, as the floors, walls, and windows of her second-story apartment shook, was that it was an earthquake. Her cat scrambled and hid for hours, while the neighbors’ dogs began to bark incessantly. But the persistence of the strange hum of engines (military aircraft flying low over the city, she would later learn), as well as seeing a group of cadets in T-shirts and shorts fleeing the Army headquarters, were signs that this was not an earthquake.

Marina couldn’t rely on the typical media outlets that are easily accessible in most other countries to learn more. She didn’t bother to turn on the television or radio in search of information about the attacks that began simultaneously at 11 military installations in Caracas and three other states. The government-run television station Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) was broadcasting a report on the minister of culture’s visit to Russia as the attack was taking place. Her cell phone, however, still had a signal and she began to receive dozens of messages on WhatsApp: “They’re bombing Caracas!”

During the darkest moments of that confusing morning, there was no team of independent reporters able to go out and record what was happening on the streets. After years of harassment, censorship, and imprisonment of journalists by the government, there were instead only empty newsrooms, decimated resources, and a complete lack of security, which made it impossible to keep the public informed as the crisis was unfolding.

The fears felt by journalists were shared by many Venezuelans: the fears of arbitrary detention, of being imprisoned without cause, tortured, and extorted. These are fears that have led citizens in Venezuela to adopt some digital safeguards in order to survive. They have learned to restrict chats, move sensitive material to hidden folders, and automatically delete any “compromising” messages. Whenever possible, they leave their cell phones at home. If they have to take their phones with them, then before going out, they delete all photos, stickers, and memes that could possibly be interpreted as subversive. This state of collective paranoia has also, however, allowed Venezuelans to stay informed and not succumb to the dictatorship.

It is, largely, ordinary citizens who have created this information network. Soon after the bombs fell on January 3, the first videos began to circulate, recorded by people who had witnessed the explosions from their windows and balconies, or from the beach, where some were still celebrating the New Year. Even hikers camping at the summit of Cerro Ávila, in Waraira Repano National Park, managed to capture panoramic shots of the bombs exploding over the Caracas Valley. Shortly afterwards, international networks confirmed the news.

In the interior of the country, connectivity is even more complicated. In San Rafael de Mucuchíes, a peaceful village in the Andes in the state of Mérida, a group of hikers tried to keep up with the frantic pace of events with intermittent internet access at 10,300 feet above sea level. They learned the news from telephone calls via operators such as Movistar (Telefónica) and Digitel, not from the instant messaging app WhatsApp. They also overcame the challenges of the information desert they were in by using a portable Starlink satellite internet antenna that one of the travelers had in their luggage. During the crisis, the service developed by SpaceX was provided free to Venezuelans.



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