Electric utilities are taking a course in machine learning to create smarter grids for tough challenges ahead. The winter 2021 megastorm in Texas left millions without power. Grid failures the past two summers sparked devastating wildfires amid California's record drought. "Extreme weather events of 2021 highlighted the risks climate change is introducing, and the importance of investing in more resilient electricity grids," said a May 2021 report from the International Energy Agency, a group with members from more than 30 countries. It called for a net-zero carbon grid by 2050, fueled by hundreds more gigawatts in renewable sources.

As power grids fill up with renewable energy, electric vehicle charging stations and customer-owned generation, they will become too complex and fast-moving for their human operators to keep up with, a group of international researchers warns. The humans will need help from smart machines -- high-performance computers running decisionmaking software systems built with artificial intelligence -- according to researchers at France's grid operator RTE, the U.S. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and other partners. With the proliferation of low-carbon options, "the grid becomes exponentially more challenging to operate," said Jeremy Renshaw, EPRI's AI director. "Grid operators are already stretched to the limit. Getting AI resources to help is going to be critical."

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. This article is part of Update or Die, a series from Future Tense about how businesses and other organizations keep up with technological change--and the cost of falling behind. Few passengers realize that in the airline industry, we exclusively train our pilots using simulators. When a new-hire pilot flies the real airplane for the first time, it's with paying customers in the back. To create one of our simulators, we hacksaw off the pointy end of a real airplane, put it on a 6-degree-of-freedom hexapod motion platform, and outfit it with video displays so pilots have something to look at out the front window.