The grid is an electron highway with no traffic lights or routing.
The grid is mankind’s largest and most complex machine. It is a continuous supply and demand balancing mechanism connecting generation with demand across various voltage levels. Electrons follow the laws of physics, from high potential to low potential, like a river system. There are no stop signs, and we cannot assign electrons an IP address and route them easily. The grid is also very opaque, with not enough sensors and monitors. Most of it was built during the post World War II period. Now it is becoming a two way system with distributed solar and wind, which becomes extremely complicated to manage.
— AI Needs Power, the Grid Needs AI, with Josh Wong · The Keynote on AI