In a world of AI, how should RDS adopt?

Reference designations have evolved from simple component labels into structured systems that connect engineering disciplines and support the digital lifecycle of industrial assets. As AI advances, some question whether strict standards like IEC 81346 are still necessary when AI can interpret unstructured data. However, AI is more likely to strengthen the importance of RDS rather than replace it, since standardized structures, relationships, and semantics provide the context needed for reliable, explainable, and verifiable outputs across complex engineering environments.