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New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Understanding the human factor in applying AI
23/4/2025
8 min read
Feature
Stirling Tyler, Director of human factors and safety consultancy User Centric Design, describes the approach used in updating existing guidance on implementing new technologies from the Energy Institute to cover automated systems and artificial intelligence (AI).
In every generation, there are technologies that are highly innovative and disruptive. Consider, for example, the impact of digital cameras on film photography, how the advent of music and video streaming services upended the entertainment industry, and how smartphones mean we no longer need to carry around separate devices for communicating, navigating, recording memories and entertainment. In each case, new technologies changed entire industries, displaced existing solutions, and fundamentally changed how people and businesses operate.
We appear to be witnessing the dawn of another such disruptor, namely artificial intelligence (AI). Many companies are now exploring the use of AI to enhance their operations and services. One high profile example is the recent explosion of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT into the public domain, changing the way both organisations and individuals interact with data. AI is fast becoming ubiquitous with a vast range of uses. Whether detecting and recognising information in images, analysing and recommending courses of action, or even generating entirely new content, AI is having a transformative impact across sectors and society.
AI could drive significant innovation in the energy sector, improving safety and efficiency, for instance helping to optimise fuel usage and load balancing, limiting downtime through predictive maintenance, and assisting safety specialists to carry out hazard risk assessments. The energy sector also has a large part to play in enabling AI innovations by powering the data centres and computational demands in a sustainable manner.