Episode 20 - AI in Energy
What role can artificial intelligence play in shaping the future of energy systems? In this episode, Dr. Aidan Rhodes, Research Fellow at Imperial College London and Energy Policy Briefing Papers Fellow at Energy Futures Lab, explores the intersection of AI and energy with two expert guests:
- Francesco Leofante, Imperial College Research Fellow, affiliated with the Centre for Explainable Artificial Intelligence. Francesco’s work focuses on safe and explainable AI, particularly counterfactual explanations and their robustness.
- Daniel Lewis, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology Fellow and author of the Energy Security and AI policy briefing paper. Daniel examines AI applications in energy systems, associated challenges, and key policy considerations for the future.
Topics covered in this episode include:
- The potential solutions and opportunities for AI within energy systems
- The challenges and risks of integrating AI into the energy sector
- How AI could help accelerate the transformation of energy systems for net zero
Episode Overview
with timestamps
- 00:00:00 - Introduction to the Energy Futures Podcast
- 00:01:02 - Meet the Guests: Francesco Leofante and Daniel Lewis
- 00:03:15 - How AI Can Transform Energy Systems
- 00:08:10 - Safe and Explainable AI in Energy
- 00:15:45 - Policy Insights: Energy Security and AI
- 00:21:20 - Challenges of Integrating AI in Energy Systems
- 00:29:30 - Counterfactual Explanations and AI Transparency
- 00:37:00 - AI and Grid Flexibility for Net Zero
- 00:44:15 - Key Policy Considerations for AI Adoption in Energy
- 00:50:30 - Closing Thoughts and Where to Learn More
Meet Our Guests
Dr Aidan Rhodes
Dr. Rhodes is a Research Fellow at Imperial College London and the Energy Policy Briefing Papers Fellow at Energy Futures Lab. He prepares accessible briefing papers for energy sector policymakers, focusing on topics like digitalization, smart energy systems, and national energy innovation.
Francesco Leofante
Francesco is an Imperial College Research Fellow at the Centre for Explainable Artificial Intelligence. He leads the ConTrust project, a four-year initiative to study robustness in explainable AI. His work delves into safe and transparent AI applications.
- Connect with Francesco Leofante on LinkedIn
- Francesco Leofante's Imperial profile
- Francesco's website
Daniel Lewis
Daniel is a Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) Fellow and author of the Energy Security and AI policy briefing paper. He transitioned into this role from his anthropology PhD research at Durham University, which focused on primate host-microbiome coevolution.
Related Resources
To deepen your understanding of the topics discussed in this episode, explore the following resources:
- POST Paper - Energy Security and AI
- Paper - Balancing Privacy and Access to Smart Meter Data
- NESO (National Energy System Operator) - Data and AI
- Learn more about Federated Learning
- Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
- Viso.ai - Computer Vision Tasks (Comprehensive 2025 Guide)
- Learn more about neuro-linguistic programming
- Learn more about large language models
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