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Abstract: In this seminar, Lucy Yu will discuss her independent review of AI Deployment in Electricity Networks, published earlier this year.
The review explored where AI is already having an impact across electricity networks, where the most promising future opportunities lie, and what stands between opportunity and real-world impact. Its findings draw on engagement with hundreds of experts and practitioners across energy, technology, academia and consumer groups in the UK and internationally.
AI is already being used to improve forecasting, optimise energy use and support system planning. It can help system operators respond more effectively to increasingly complex conditions, enabling decisions to be made with greater precision, speed and confidence. It can also help households and businesses capture a greater share of the value created by the future energy system, supporting wider social and economic objectives.
But AI’s impact could — and must — go much further. Lucy will discuss how unlocking its full potential could deliver benefits to consumers and the wider economy worth billions of pounds.
The seminar will focus on four high-impact areas:
  • changing the rules underpinning grid operation to make fuller use of AI and run the system more effectively;
  • ensuring AI applications deliver tangible benefits for households and businesses;
  • preparing the grid and wider energy system to make responsible use of AI’s future potential for greater autonomy; and
  • streamlining testing and deployment so that effective AI solutions can be adopted more quickly.

Bio: Lucy Yu is a trained scientist and award-winning technologist, venture builder and policymaker. She has more than twenty years’ experience building, scaling and leading venture-backed global deep tech and consumer-facing ventures in AI, mobile, energy, and mobility; and developing technology policy and regulation for the UK government, European Commission, and the UN.

Lucy is founding CEO at Centre for Net Zero, Octopus Energy Group’s open research institute. Centre for Net Zero develops and uses leading models and data to help every grid in the world understand, trust and use intelligent demand side innovation to accelerate global clean electrification. Lucy is the UK Government’s AI Champion for Clean Energy; a member of the Government’s AI Energy Council, created to address the growing power demands of AI and data centres; and a member of the UK Government’s Smart Data Council.

Lucy holds several non-executive and advisory roles including chair of the board of trustees at Wikimedia UK; scientific adviser to the Alan Turing Institute; adviser to the Russell Group of research-intensive universities; co-founder of the Institute for Ethical AI Alignment & Safety, a global membership community of over 100,000 machine learning professionals; and adviser to Form Ventures, a UK-based fund investing in start-ups building in highly regulated markets. She sits on the boards of E3G and Connected Places Catapult.

Lucy studied computational and physical chemistry at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, public leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, and venture finance at Saïd Business School.

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