Human operators and real‐time expert systems

: This paper describes and examines real-time expert systems from the perspective of their users. It categorizes real-time expert systems according to a three-component system consisting of an expert system, a user and a process being controlled, by considering all possible arrangements of information flow between the components, and uses this classification as a basis for reviewing real-time expert systems. The focus of interest lies in those characteristics of real-time expert systems which impinge on users, especially as they have been discussed by computer scientists. After critically examining these claims, the paper discusses the interaction between systems and users at the perceptual/motor, cognitive and supervisory levels. It concludes by arguing that the successful design and installation of real-time expert systems require the application of ergonomics techniques to provide for efficient and accurate user-system interaction.