Human factors considerations for expert systems in the nuclear industry

The author discusses the general human factors issues relative to the development and implementation of expert systems for the nuclear power station control. He summarizes the relevant research that addresses these issues, and identifies those areas that need the most effort for success. Since much of the prominent work for the application of expert systems has focused on computerized aids for decision-making in emergencies, the author draws his examples from this area. Detailed consideration is given to four general areas of expert systems for the nuclear industry where consideration of the human factor is essential: the acquisition and representation of human expertise; the design of the user interface; performance evaluation of expert systems; and integration of the expert system into the task environment.<>