This month’s column tackles an elephant in the room—or more accurately, a herd of elephants: artificial intelligence (AI) and SPE’s role in it. With the impact that AI is having on everything in today’s world, it is no surprise that it is also affecting SPE, its members, and how we are doing business now and in the future. And in the case of SPE and our members, these impacts are not just how we use AI, but also how we will be involved in supplying the electricity that is necessary to power the ever-increasing demand for this technology.
Many of you have probably seen or heard some of the numbers. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts, in its base-case scenario, that global electricity demand from data centers will grow from 460 TWh in 2024 to over 1,000 TWh in 2030, and possibly as much as 1,300 TWh in 2035. A large portion of the supply for this increasing demand is expected to be natural gas and enhanced geothermal energy—areas of strong SPE technical content focus. There is no doubt that SPE and its members will be involved in the sustainable generation of electricity needed for AI development.
Not only will we help to supply these energy needs, but as I speak with members and see presentations at various conferences and workshops, it is increasingly obvious just how much AI is changing the way our industry works. And I’m not just talking about ChatGPT or Copilot writing emails for us, but very direct applications in all aspects of our business. Some interesting examples I’ve personally seen in the past few months include:
- Use of autonomous drones to quickly identify wellhead spills and production issues, allowing for targeted response by field personnel (Brunini and Federico 2025).
- Use of AI to improve and accelerate the reviewing of permits, allowing personnel that would normally be performing those functions to be in the field and more efficiently performing safely and regulatory inspections (Amir Gerges, ADNOC, 2026 IPTC Keynote).
- Monitoring of driver fatigue to reduce distractions and improve driver safety (ADNOC).
Obviously, this is a VERY short list given that AI is used daily by tens of thousands in our industry, but it possibly shows some of the breadth with which it is being applied. AI is not just about processing the terabytes of data that come with seismic acquisition and other data-heavy applications, but also about human interaction and improving the way we do business in all areas.
SPE Programming and AI
So, what about SPE and AI specifically? How is SPE approaching the elephant?
First, if you’ve been to any SPE conference or workshop in the past few years, I doubt there was a session that didn’t incorporate AI or one of the related sciences of machine learning or data analytics into the program. Calls for proposals list the need for papers focused on these topics, and conference committees are eager to have solid examples of AI use presented in their program. A search on OnePetro shows almost 14,000 articles from the past 5 years that mention AI in one form or another. Additionally, SPE Energy Stream offers a variety of content discussing AI and its various applications across different parts of our industry. Some of this video content may be of particular interest if AI is a relatively new topic for you.
As I’ve said many times and will continue to say, at its very core, SPE’s mission is technology transfer—and that extends to AI, its use in our industry, and all SPE programming. We are here to facilitate opportunities to share case studies, improved use of AI, and any other aspect of its application in our industry. I encourage you to take advantage of these examples and see how you can apply AI to improve your day-to-day operations.
AI and SPE Publications
SPE programming is here to promote the technology transfer of AI uses in our industry, but as we do so with multiple written avenues, we are very sensitive to how it is being used to generate actual content in SPE publications. As I noted in my February column, SPE has a policy on AI-generated content in publications. In short, AI tools are allowed to help with English language, grammar, etc., but not to generate substantive content in the publication. If you have any questions about the policy, please feel free to reach out to permissions@spe.org for clarification.
And since the publication space is changing daily with respect to AI, please know that SPE will continue to monitor and update our policies as needed.
SPE’s AI Assistant and EnRG-LLM
SPE’s 75-plus years of technical content is uniquely suited for AI applications and represents a significant strategic opportunity. In 2023, SPE was approached by Aramco and subsequently partnered with them and i2k Connect to develop, test, and deploy a large language model (LLM) fine‑tuned on SPE’s content within OnePetro.
This collaboration resulted in the development of EnRG-LLM (referred to as Energy LLM in earlier SPE communications) in 2025. The model recently received a 2026 Offshore Technology Conference Spotlight on New Technology Award and will be honored on 4 May at the NRG Center in Houston. It is now available for licensing.
Secondly, SPE offers companies the ability to directly license its technical content specifically for generative AI use, enabling integration alongside their internal systems, tools, and workflows. SPE executed its first such agreement with ADNOC last year, and multiple other companies are currently in the evaluation stage.
However, LLMs are only one component of AI systems. SPE is reinvesting funds from license sales to develop a retrieval-grounded AI assistant for SPE members, enabling them to search for SPE content more efficiently and receive answers supported by linked citations back to source material on OnePetro. This exciting tool is in development and will be rolled out to SPE membership later this calendar year (so stay tuned for that!).
If you want to learn more about EnRG‑LLM, check out this video, and follow SPE communications this year as development of the member AI assistant progresses. For organizations interested in the licensing opportunities, please reach out to Dana Otillio or Simon Seaton for more information.
Will AI Take My Job?
The last component of AI and SPE that I’ll touch on is the question that I get asked by students and some professionals all the time: ‘Will AI take my job?’ My answer to that question at this point in time is that I honestly don’t know, because it depends very much on what your job is, along with multiple other associated aspects. However, what I can say is this: Most of what I am seeing at this time is that AI isn’t taking jobs as much as helping us be more efficient at what we’re doing in those jobs.
Take the example from above about permitting. AI is helping with the monotonous, day-to-day creation, proofreading, and filing of safety and environmental permits. This is freeing those personnel—who have skills much more valuable than just filling out paperwork—to apply their expertise to improving field operations, including safety conditions. That’s not job replacement; that’s job improvement.
I am no expert on this topic, nor do I have a crystal ball that tells me anything more than others also know, but what I do tell students is not to shy away from AI. I truly believe that those who will be the most successful in the future are those that learn how to harness AI capabilities and use them to make improvements. Treat it as a tool, not a threat; I believe the benefits will be there.
Other SPE Programming Updates
While not connected in any way to the topic of AI discussed above, I did want to take a moment to update you on a couple of new initiatives that SPE has recently undertaken.
Switch Energy Alliance
I am proud to announce that SPE has signed a memorandum of understanding with Switch Energy Alliance to “enhance energy education and engagement opportunities for students, educators, and professionals worldwide.” While many of you are likely familiar with our Energy4me program, its materials are mostly focused on primary and secondary students and teachers. The Switch Energy Alliance materials support this audience, but they also have expanded programming for university-level students, for professionals working in the energy industry, and for the general populace that may not be as familiar with the energy industry as many of us would wish.
While SPE could create some such materials internally, it makes more sense to partner with groups like the Switch Energy Alliance, which already has excellent content, rather than spend SPE resources reinventing the wheel. I know many of you get frustrated with the lack of knowledge the general public occasionally exhibits regarding our industry, but as I noted in my November 2025 column, SPE is not a lobbying organization, but rather an educational one. This partnership will allow us to build on Energy4me and expand our abilities to educate people about the importance of energy. I encourage you to check out what the Switch Energy Alliance has available on its website and stay tuned for more information about this new partnership.
RedM
Some of you might have heard of the RedM organization, but if not, it is a nonprofit organization founded in 2018 by David Reid, an avid SPE member and former SPE Board member, to “empower industry leaders to combat human trafficking.”
SPE has created a video featuring several current and former officers as part of a broader effort alongside several energy CEOs and IADC, who have also produced videos. These videos point out steps that we all can take to combat this issue and build a community to help fight the damage caused by human trafficking.
As a Society that has members around the world and operations in every corner of it, we felt that it was important for SPE to support this important endeavor. As the SPE video says, ‘See something, say something, and let’s end human trafficking.’
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or want to discuss any of these topics further, please reach out to me via President@spe.org.
