This paper explores the crucial role of artificial intelligence (AI) in protecting Industrial Control Systems (ICS) against cyber threats. Additionally, it analyzes how AI techniques contribute to intrusion detection, system integrity monitoring, and automated incident response. The discussion also highlights the challenges and opportunities that arise from the intersection of cybersecurity and AI. Therefore, to illustrate these concepts, the paper implements and compares several AI models based on their effectiveness in detecting cyber-attacks on ICS. Furthermore, a case study was conducted involving real-world tests on industrial control devices, focusing on voltage and current variation patterns, to assess the practical performance of the proposed AI-based detection mechanisms.