Utility Week

20 | 22ND - 28TH NOVEMBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Event Utility Week-Wipro Technology and Innovation Council meeting A n almost feverish excitement is building across society and industry around the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI). Stories are popping up on an almost daily basis trumpeting new AI capabilities and hailing the revolution it will imminently bring to consumer experiences as well as business and industry operations. Relevant examples for utilities include applications to enhance the capabilities of customer ser- vice personnel through sentiment recogni- tion, root out tell-tale signs of meter fraud by assessing consumption data or anticipate problem smart meter installations through image recognition. But are organisations, their employees and citizens at large truly prepared for the impact AI could have when deployed at scale – rather than in the microcosm of innovation pilots? This was the question at the heart of a recent meeting of the Utility Week-Wipro Technology and Innovation Council, where a diverse panel of experts debated issues such as human bias in the development of AI algorithms and the importance of boost- ing data literacy across workforces in order to access the full potential of AI. Opportunity knocks Broadly speaking, the session reflected con- fidence from debate leaders and council members alike about their ability to identify opportunities for applying AI technologies, both today and in the longer term. Northumbrian Water's Elaine Algaard, for example, acknowledged the trail that has already been blazed by the financial services industry in using sentiment recognition to prompt contact centre agent interactions with customers, but noted that the "road is less well mapped" in terms of applying AI to the management of critical infrastructure. Algaard and Clare Duffy, representing the distribution network of Ireland electric- ity company ESB, both shared examples of "foundation" applications of AI in this sphere – for instance using drones with image recognition technology to conduct asset inspections, enabling human field force to be deployed more efficiently, while also paying off in terms of health and safety. But they also both felt that a next phase of AI innovation for asset-heavy utilities may be just around the corner and that the poten- tial on offer will come hand-in-hand with some big challenges – for example, in terms of workforce agility and the increasingly sophisticated risk management that will be needed as big data sets are iteratively inte- grated and connected with AI. For ESB, the game-changing opportunity presented by AI lies in enabling reliable, automated operation of the increasingly dynamic power grid, which is needed to deliver decarbonisation ambitions. There's plenty of scope here, said Duffy, but she also talked about the obstacle of "muscle memory" in experienced personnel, which denies the potential that a physical control room may no longer be needed if AI can meet its highest expectations. She com- pared it to examples in the aviation world where there was pushback on the idea that air traffic control run by AI could do away with the need for the physical comfort blan- ket of seeing control towers on the airfield. In water, Algaard said the "next step" for unlocking AI value is to train the technology to take control of water treatment, giving it responsibility for judging the right level of chemicals to release at the right time. With no other parameters than maximum safety and efficiency, such a use case would be relatively straightforward. But Algaard pointed out that the need for water compa- nies to attune their operations more closely with the dynamics of the natural world also means that AI for water treatment would need to understand a range of complex environmental and water resource factors. It needs to be "organic AI", she said. Looking beyond the technical capabili- ties of AI, Algaard and Duffy both identified human factors in the mass deployment of AI as the biggest areas for impact and obstacles. Who's afraid of AI? A the latest meeting of the Utility Week- Wipro Technology and Innovation Council the debate was on artificial intelligence – and the verdict was, 'let's go for it'. Eleanor O'Keeffe, head of content, CogX Technology festival CogX attracts thousands of technology leaders each year to discuss the latest developments, controversies and innovation in the application of AI around the world and across sectors. O'Keeffe is responsible for galvanising this tech community and collating an inspirational event programme. Maria Axente, Artificial Intelligence Programme Driver and AI for Good Lead, PwC UK Axente advises partners across industry, academia, and governments on how to harness the power of AI in an ethical and responsible manner. She is a member of the UK government all-party parliamentary group on AI, Tech UK Digital Ethics, BSI/ISO AI standards, a Fellow of the RSA and an advocate for children and youth rights in the age of AI. Clare Duffy, head of network development, ESB Duffy is responsible for Irish utility ESB's electricity distribution asset investments and its innovation strategy, including projects to use AI for more efficient asset management and automated network management. Eliane Algaard, water director, Northumbrian Water Algaard oversees Northumbrian Water's water treatment and water supply asset base and has championed a range of AI pilots at the company. She has also advocated the introduction of new workforce data literacy initiatives to build a strong foundation for wider use of the AI technologies in the future.

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