DiscoverAI Frontiers“How AI Can Prevent Blackouts” by David ‘davidad’ Dalrymple
“How AI Can Prevent Blackouts” by David ‘davidad’ Dalrymple

“How AI Can Prevent Blackouts” by David ‘davidad’ Dalrymple

Update: 2025-06-05
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Description

Over the course of 10 hours this April, a massive power outage swept across Spain and Portugal, causing extensive disruption. The most severe blackout in both countries’ history, it paralyzed entire transport networks and interrupted essential services throughout the Iberian Peninsula, causing estimated economic damages in the billions of euros — and at least eight fatalities.

Weeks earlier, a fire at an electrical substation had a similarly debilitating effect on Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, shuttering it for an entire day. It led to over 1,300 flight cancellations and caused tens of millions in economic damage.

These are precisely the kind of incidents that AI could help mitigate. AI systems deployed in critical electrical infrastructure could analyze complex patterns and predict potential failures before they occur. They could monitor and respond to grid anomalies in milliseconds, catching signs of an overloaded system or impending blackout far more quickly than the [...]

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Outline:

(01:56 ) AI for Infrastructure Resilience

(06:27 ) Limitations of Current Safety Approaches

(09:11 ) A New Approach: Provable Safety Guarantees

(12:51 ) The Next Steps Toward Safeguarded AI

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First published:

June 5th, 2025



Source:

https://aifrontiersmedia.substack.com/p/how-ai-can-prevent-blackouts


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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.


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Images from the article:

High-voltage transmission towers and power lines stretch across misty landscape.
Public transportation running on electric power stalled during the April 2025 blackout in Spain. Photo: Feliperpv / Wikimedia
A fire at the North Hyde Electricity Substation led to a multi-day closure at Heathrow International Airport in March. Credit: London Fire Brigade

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“How AI Can Prevent Blackouts” by David ‘davidad’ Dalrymple

“How AI Can Prevent Blackouts” by David ‘davidad’ Dalrymple