Rendering Frankenstein's monsters? The emergence and impacts of human digital twins

Abstract Human digital twins (HDTs) are set to revolutionise human–system integration and improve human capacities, productivity, and well‐being by including human characteristics in system design. Reflecting real‐life behaviours and emotional reactions, HDTs render virtual data‐driven models of people. Their presence in many fields—including office work, education, and healthcare—showcases their ability to advance diagnoses, workforce training, and individualised learning. However, the general HDTs acceptance hypothesis calls for a critical analysis of their ethical ramifications and social influence. Emphasising the need of social adaptations to maintain stability, structural functionalism provides a suited framework to examine the roles of HDTs inside social systems. Despite their obvious advantages, HDTs raise ethical questions. While addressing concerns about user acceptance and ethical norms, engineers, designers and the legal regulators, but also the users—by means of ‘owners’—must consider the substantial consequences of HDTs and their customisation. HDTs' duality, like a double‐edged sword, calls for deliberate usage and considerable thought to negotiate the changing terrain of human–machine interaction.