The development and proliferation of artificial intelligence technologies pose the questions of practical implementation on the one hand and the appropriate breadth and formulation of regulatory frameworks on the other. This article will focus on the potential for applying techno-economic solutions based on artificial intelligence in the energy sector. It will aim to understand legislative activities through the lens of the value of liberty. First, the potential uses of artificial intelligence in the energy sector will be outlined. Then, Isaiah Berlin’s two concepts of liberty will be explained and finally applied to understand better the potential approaches in regulating artificial intelligence in the energy sector. Probable future legislative developments will be outlined.
The potential for using artificial intelligence and related technological solutions in the energy sector is vast. It can, among others, improve the use of predictive analytics in energy trading, balancing and forecasting of renewables production, be applied in smart grids, smart buildings and energy efficiency, enhance the grid maintenance effectiveness and aid in oil and natural gas exploration. At the same time, it raises particular concerns about security, personal data utilisation, human rights violations and breaches of established consumer protection principles.
Państwa stają więc przed decyzją, w jakim stopniu i w jaki sposób uregulować sztuczną inteligencję w sektorze energetycznym. Chociaż Unia Europejska poczyniła już pierwsze kroki w tym kierunku, wiele pozostawi się ustawodawcom krajowym. Muszą lawirować między Scyllą wolnościowej anarchii a Charybdą dławiącego rozwój i pozostawania w tyle za innymi międzynarodowymi ośrodkami władzy z powodu irracjonalnej i duszącej nadmiernej regulacji. Te dwie skrajności można dobrze zrozumieć w kategoriach dwóch koncepcji wolności profesora Isaiaha Berlina z Oksfordu. Wolność negatywna to brak regulacji, który w skrajnym przypadku prowadzi do tego, co Hobbes nazwał „bellum omnium contra omnes”, czyli społecznej wojny wszystkich ze wszystkimi. Wolność pozytywna to paternalistyczna troska państwa o jednostkę, która nie jest wystarczająco zdolna do podejmowania własnych decyzji. Zagrożeniem jest pogrążanie się w biurokratycznym totalitaryzmie, który idzie w parze z brakiem innowacyjności i trudnościami gospodarczymi.
If it is true that while history does not repeat itself, it does rhyme, certain lessons can be learned from previous novelties such as telecommunications. When new technologies emerge, most states tend to overreact regulatorily at the first sight of negative externalities. This is then followed by a more extended period of gradual and partial deregulation that makes the legislative approach appropriate and rational. Given that, in regulating artificial intelligence use in the energy sector, more than a top-down approach, incremental public policy is in order, fostering innovation, but at the same time intervening in minor ways to retain grid security and price affordability, especially regarding end-consumer electricity supply.
In better understanding and navigating the hurdles associated with the application of artificial intelligence technologies in the energy sector, states can utilise the conceptual framework of two types of liberty to find the appropriate middle ground and reap the benefits of technological development while at the same time minimising the adverse societal outcomes through smart legislating. The energy sector is expected to remain one of the most exciting polygons for the implementation of artificial intelligence, where enormous benefits for society can ensue. Still, only if national legislators approach it reasonably, prudently, yet open-mindedly.
Doc. dr Luka Martin Tomažič
Adiunkt, Uniwersytet Alma Mater Europaea, Słowenia
Luka Martin Tomažič has a double habilitation in law and philosophy from Alma Mater Europaea University, Slovenia. He has authored more than a hundred publications in energy law, legal philosophy, and constitutional law. In 2023, IusInfo named him among the ten most influential Slovenian lawyers.
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