# Agentic Digital Twins: A Taxonomy of Capabilities for Understanding Possible Futures

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.18799 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.18799/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 3 of its 36 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 13 Jan 2026.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks](https://mlsanity.com/agents/general-llm-agent-frameworks-and-benchmarks/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Performative Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.06673/) (2020)
- [Performative Prediction: Past and Future](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.16608/) (2023)
- [Performative Prediction on Games and Mechanism Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.05146/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Agentic IoT: Architectures, Applications, and Challenges Toward the Internet of Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.04219/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

As digital twins (DTs) evolve to become more agentic through the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), they acquire capabilities that extend beyond dynamic representation of their target systems. This paper presents a taxonomy of agentic DTs organised around three fundamental dimensions: the locus of agency (external, internal, distributed), the tightness of coupling (loose, tight, constitutive), and model evolution (static, adaptive, reconstructive). From the resulting 27-configuration space, we identify nine illustrative configurations grouped into three clusters: "The Present" (existing tools and emerging steering systems), "The Threshold" (where emergent properties appear and coupling becomes constitutive), and "The Frontier" (where systems gain reconstructive capabilities). Our analysis explores how agentic DTs exercise performative power--not merely representing physical systems but actively participating in constituting them. Using traffic navigation systems as examples, we show how even passive tools can exhibit emergent performativity, while advanced configurations risk performative lock-in. Drawing on performative prediction theory, we trace a progression from passive tools through active steering to ontological reconstruction, examining how constitutive coupling enables systems to create self-validating realities. Understanding these configurations is essential for navigating the transformation from DTs as mirror worlds to DTs as architects of new ontologies.