Smart Grid with IoT and AI: Towards a Prototype

The electricity sector is undergoing a global transformation due to increasing demand, renewable integration, and the pursuit of resilience. Conventional centralized grids cannot meet these challenges effectively. Smart grids, enhanced with Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), provide real-time monitoring, decentralized control, and predictive optimization. This study reviews recent contributions on IoT-enabled smart grids and AI-driven intelligence, outlining architectures, communication technologies, opportunities, and challenges. It further presents a prototype design combining IoT sensing with AI analytics to demonstrate micro-level energy efficiency, renewable integration, and consumer-centric management. The results suggest that integrating IoT and AI can accelerate the transition toward sustainable, adaptive, and intelligent power systems.