Comprehensive and comparative analysis of AI in the energy sector

For decades, humanity has been fascinated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Fenwick and Molnar in Discover Artif Intell 2:1–14, 2022), anticipating its potential to enhance efficiencies, advance organizational goals, and improve societal well-being. Recent years have seen significant progress in the development and deployment of AI systems across various critical infrastructure and services sectors, impacting organizations and individuals with a mix of benefits, successes, and risks. In the critical infrastructure and services sector, incorrect decisions or errors can lead to more than just financial losses; they can cause severe equipment damage and pose risks to human safety. This study aims to explore the current knowledge base and identify gaps related to the safe development, deployment, implementation, and use of AI within the critical infrastructure and services sector, with a particular focus on the energy sector. The comparative review and gap analysis conducted in this study reveals that there is a lack of globally mature regulatory, governance, and legislative mechanisms to measure and manage AI compliance. The key research gap identified is the absence of a comprehensive compliance framework to ensure the safe and sustainable integration and operation of evolving AI technologies throughout their lifecycle in the energy sector. This study’s originality lies in establishing a fit-for-purpose lifecycle compliance framework for the safe integration and use of AI systems in the energy sector. Additionally, it will provide system software developers and system providers with measurable compliance guidelines to develop better AI tools for this sector.