PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jihyo Kim

Also known as 김지효

Jihyo Kim is an energy economist at KAIST whose research joins economics, policy and technology in the energy and climate sectors, including the energy footprint of artificial intelligence and data centers. With B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Seoul National University, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Energy Economics Institute from 2014 to 2024 and served on the working group for Korea's 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand in 2023 and 2024. Her time-of-use electricity pricing research appeared in Energy Economics in 2022 and 2024 and in Energy Policy in 2025. In 2026, she coauthored a review in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews on the socio-technical dynamics of AI, data centers and digitalization. She is an associate professor at KAIST's Graduate School of Green Growth and Sustainability, and KAIST's AI College lists AI for energy among her research areas.

Now at
Graduate School of Green Growth and Sustainability and Korea Resource Economics Association
Badges

Timeline

  1. 2012–2014

    Seoul National and Penn State

    She studies civil, urban and geosystem engineering (B.S.) and energy systems engineering (M.S. and Ph.D.) at Seoul National University, where she also works as an adjunct professor and lecturer from 2012 to 2014. In 2013, she is a visiting scholar at Pennsylvania State University.

  2. 2014–2024

    Senior research fellow at KEEI

    She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) from 2014 to 2024. Her projects include a 2024 World Bank study of the energy efficiency gap in Korea's energy audits, as principal investigator, and the trade ministry's long-term energy outlook for 2023 to 2024, as co-principal investigator.

  3. 2022

    Time-of-use trial and a commendation

    A 2022 Energy Economics paper by her, Soomin Lee and Heesun Jang analyzes South Korea's first large-scale time-of-use pricing experiment, run with 2,033 households in 16 apartment complexes. The households effectively reduced peak demand in response to relatively high prices. In December 2022, the Minister of Environment commends her.

  4. 2023–2024

    National energy planning committees

    She serves on the working group for Korea's 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand in 2023 and 2024, and she is an expert member of the energy transition subcommittee of the 2050 Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Commission from 2023. In 2024, she joins the sixth Emissions Allowance Allocation Committee and the Korea Energy Agency's management advisory panel.

  5. 2024–2025

    Wholesale effects and the Jeju tariff

    A 2024 Energy Economics paper with Heesun Jang and Seongman Moon uses a large-scale pilot to show that time-of-use pricing for households can shift load and raise producer surplus in South Korea. A 2025 Energy Policy paper with Dahae Choo and Heesun Jang studies Jeju Island's opt-in time-of-use tariff, where enrolled households shifted usage to off-peak hours.

  6. 2026

    A review of AI's energy footprint

    In 2026, she coauthors a review in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews on the socio-technical dynamics of AI, data centers and digitalization, written with Jinsoo Kim, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Steve Griffiths, Morgan Bazilian and others. It screens 364 articles published from 2000 to 2025 and identifies over 70 mitigation technologies for the energy and carbon footprint of AI.

  7. As of October 2026

    Professor at KAIST

    She is an associate professor at KAIST's Graduate School of Green Growth and Sustainability, a steering committee member of the school, and, since 2025, chair of the legal and institutional committee of the Korea Resource Economics Association. KAIST's AI College lists energy policy, climate policy and AI for energy among her research areas. Her research sits at the intersection of economics, policy and technology in the energy and climate sectors.

Career

  1. Since 2025Korea Resource Economics AssociationChair
  2. NowKAISTAssociate Professor
  3. NowGraduate School of Green Growth and SustainabilityMember
  4. From 2024Sixth Emissions Allowance Allocation CommitteeMember
  5. From 2024Korea Energy AgencyMember
  6. 2023–2024Working Group for Korea's 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and DemandMember
  7. 2023–20242050 Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth CommissionExpert Member
  8. 2014–2024National Research Council for Economics Humanities and Social ScienceSenior Research Fellow
  9. 2013Pennsylvania State UniversityVisiting Scholar
  10. 2012–2014Seoul National UniversityAdjunct Professor and Lecturer

Education

  1. Seoul National UniversityB.S.

From the biography.

  1. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public rolesIncludes Jihyo Kim. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public roles. Another 97 people moved from public careers into AI organizations or research, with 62% of dated records starting from 2020 on.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes KAIST. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes KAIST. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes KAIST. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Jihyo Kim yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. KAIST ETP LAB – PI etp.kaist.ac.kr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Jihyo Kim – ARC arc.hku.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Lessons from residential electricity demand analysis on the time of use pricing experiment in South Korea ideas.repec.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Effects of time-of-use pricing for residential customers and wholesale market consequences in South Korea ideas.repec.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Strategic and price-dependent responses to opt-in time-of-use tariffs: Evidence from Jeju Island, Korea ideas.repec.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Reviewing the socio-technical dynamics of AI, data centers and digitalization on energy and the environment ideas.repec.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Professor | 녹색성장지속가능대학원 gggs.kaist.ac.kr. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Faculty | AX aicollege.kaist.ac.kr. Checked 21 October 2026.