Human-Supervised Artificial Intelligence Researchers in Electric Power Systems: Knowledge, Physics, Simulation, and Governance for Large Language Models

Conclusions in power-system research require a clear evidential basis. Researchers need to understand the data sources, modelling assumptions, and solution procedures to assess the conditions under which a conclusion holds. Large language models (LLMs) can help researchers extract information from documents and translate research requests into code and tool calls, but their outputs still require physical validation. Focusing on human-supervised artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, this review examines power-system LLM applications and related scientific workflows, together with physics-grounded power AI studies, to discuss the conditions for using LLMs in scientific research. In the proposed knowledge-physics-simulation-governance framework, LLMs translate information and coordinate tasks, simulators and validation tools test models, and experts retain authority over critical assumptions, safety boundaries, and final conclusions. Research processes should preserve materials for review so that claims can be traced to their sources, computations can be reproduced, and failed attempts and approvals can be examined. On this basis, a staged development roadmap and requirements for research reporting are proposed. Evaluation should focus on research artifacts and their validation to assess whether LLMs can improve the efficiency of power-system research within clearly defined permissions.