Quantum-Inspired Reinforcement Learning for Secure and Sustainable AIoT-Driven Supply Chain Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum-inspired reinforcement learning framework for AIoT-enabled supply chains that simultaneously enhances security, sustainability, and operational efficiency, demonstrating robust performance in simulations.

Contribution

It presents a novel quantum-inspired RL approach integrating multi-objective optimization for secure and sustainable supply chain management, addressing ecological and cyber vulnerabilities.

Findings

Outperforms standard methods in convergence speed and stability

Maintains strong performance under noise and real-time conditions

Effectively balances security, carbon footprint, and operational costs

Abstract

Modern supply chains must balance high-speed logistics with environmental impact and security constraints, prompting a surge of interest in AI-enabled Internet of Things (AIoT) solutions for global commerce. However, conventional supply chain optimization models often overlook crucial sustainability goals and cyber vulnerabilities, leaving systems susceptible to both ecological harm and malicious attacks. To tackle these challenges simultaneously, this work integrates a quantum-inspired reinforcement learning framework that unifies carbon footprint reduction, inventory management, and cryptographic-like security measures. We design a quantum-inspired reinforcement learning framework that couples a controllable spin-chain analogy with real-time AIoT signals and optimizes a multi-objective reward unifying fidelity, security, and carbon costs. The approach learns robust policies with stabilized training via value-based and ensemble updates, supported by window-normalized reward components to ensure commensurate scaling. In simulation, the method exhibits smooth convergence, strong late-episode performance, and graceful degradation under representative noise channels, outperforming standard learned and model-based references, highlighting its robust handling of real-time sustainability and risk demands. These findings reinforce the potential for quantum-inspired AIoT frameworks to drive secure, eco-conscious supply chain operations at scale, laying the groundwork for globally connected infrastructures that responsibly meet both consumer and environmental needs.