AI could put a stop to electricity theft and meter misreadings

Brazil has a big electricity theft problem. But an AI algorithm tested on several million of the country's households shows promise as a tool for helping cut this out. It could also offer insights for electricity suppliers elsewhere seeking to do a better job of reading your meter. Who is responsible for the theft in Brazil isn't always clear – sending meter readers to check whether meters and overhead cabling have been tampered with is dangerous work, says Adrian Grilli of the Joint Radio Company in London, which does telecommunications for global energy companies. Electricity theft is hardly limited to Brazil: some countries see as much as 40 per cent of their supply siphoned off largely by users who have tampered with meters.