  The AI Act has been recently proposed by the European Commission to regulate
the use of AI in the EU, especially on high-risk applications, i.e. systems
intended to be used as safety components in the management and operation of
road traffic and the supply of water, gas, heating and electricity. On the
other hand, IEC 61508, one of the most adopted international standards for
safety-critical electronic components, seem to mostly forbid the use of AI in
such systems. Given this conflict between IEC 61508 and the proposed AI Act,
also stressed by the fact that IEC 61508 is not an harmonised European
standard, with the present paper we study and analyse what is going to happen
to industry after the entry into force of the AI Act. In particular, we focus
on how the proposed AI Act might positively impact on the sustainability of
critical infrastructures by allowing the use of AI on an industry where it was
previously forbidden. To do so, we provide several examples of AI-based
solutions falling under the umbrella of IEC 61508 that might have a positive
impact on sustainability in alignment with the current long-term goals of the
EU and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, i.e.,
affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities.
