An artificially intelligent locomotive mechanic

GE’s new expert system troubleshoots by &dquo;reasoning&dquo; much the way an experienced locomotive engineer would. In fact, the computer’s data base was generated by a team of computer specialists who spent several months interviewing GE’s top locomotive field service engineer, David I. Smith an expert with more than 40 years’ experience in troubleshooting diesel-electric locomotives. The GE team then devised a custom software program to input Mr. Smith’s accumulated expertise into the computer.