Thanks to the advent of the latest innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), smart cities — with a specific focus on the utilities sector — are undergoing unprecedented changes.
The Capgemini Research Institute estimated that, together with the energy sector, the utility vertical can save between $237 billion to $813 billion USD from intelligent automation at scale.
Utility companies have been experimenting with AI use cases such as predictive maintenance, yield optimization, and demand/load forecasting. In 2019, more than half of energy and utilities organizations have deployed at least one practical implementation of AI technology, reaping its consistent benefits.
Even the public seems eager to enjoy the positive innovations brought forward by the AI transformation. According to a survey from PwC India, 71% of respondents were overwhelmingly optimistic about the chances that AI is going to help humans solve complex problems and live more enriched lives in the immediate future.
Let’s have a look at some actual use cases of AI and ML in the smart cities/utilities sector to evaluate the practical impact of these technologies from a pragmatic point of view. (Also read: Top 20 AI Use Cases: Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.)
For public sector entities, such as large energy, power and utility companies, real-time information on energy usage can reduce wastage and loss, improve the efficiency of grid operation, optimize storage, and enhance predictive infrastructure maintenance.
Smart meters are an application of AI and ML which hold high potential in the energy and utilities field. AI, ML and the Internet of Things (IoT) form a crucial component of the government’s vision of smart cities and smart industrial zones. (Read more: 6 Tips for Securing an IoT Device.)
Cities provide a wealth of information that can be captured using IoT devices in real-time, including energy consumption. Power inputs can be adjusted automatically, leading to important savings, more secure supplies, and fewer outages.
Smart meters are useful even on a smaller scale as well. By using them, customers can tailor their energy requirements and thus reduce costs. The data generated in the process could be used for customized tariffs and more efficient supply.
In fact, in the United Kingdom alone, one electricity and gas Smart meter is planned to be installed for every home and small business, for a total of 53 million by 2020.
Paris certainly is one of the most beautiful cities in the world — and has always been able to blend its marvellous historical and artistic tradition with modernity and innovation.
One of the most jaw-dropping ideas that the Paris administration has recently implemented, comes in the form of sensors placed on park benches to make them “smart.” The new IoT-enabled park benches are able to collect a constant stream of information that can be digested and analyzed by AI for a broad range of urban planning uses.
They can provide insights on environmental factors such as air quality by monitoring pollution levels, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. They can assist city planners by collecting data on frequency of traffic and space usage.
They can even “talk” with park habitués and tourists to ask for feedback on the facilities through a downloadable app.
The aging workforce issue is a problem which is going to have a profound impact in the natural gas and electric utilities. According to the US Department of Energy, 25% of U.S. employees will be ready to retire within five years, taking their skilled expertise away with them.
AI is able to tackle this issue by leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP) and pattern recognition to process unstructured and structured data, and extract precious information from past internal communications, training documents, and technical notes.
