3 Questions: How AI Could Optimize the Power Grid

Summary

In this episode, MIT professor Priya Donti explains why the power grid must be constantly optimized to balance unpredictable demand, variable renewable supply, and line losses. She highlights AI’s role in delivering more accurate real‑time forecasts of renewable output, solving complex dispatch and storage optimization faster than traditional approximations, and aiding grid planning, predictive maintenance, and battery research. Donti cautions that not all AI models are energy‑efficient, urging focus on application‑specific, physics‑aware algorithms that deliver clear sustainability benefits, and calls for responsible, democratized AI development in the energy sector.