from ast import literal_eval
import pandas as pd
# convert the column during import
df = pd.read_csv('test.csv', converters={'col1': literal_eval})
# display(df)
col1
0 [1.23, 2.34]
1 [KB4523205, KB4519569, KB4503308]
# check type
print(type(df.iloc[0, 0]))
list
print(type(df.iloc[1, 0]))
list