A Wyoming railroad engineer is suing Union Pacific, claiming he was hurt when an artificial intelligence-powered train driver malfunctioned causing a train wreck, according to Cowboy State Daily.
Andrew Kirol, 51, is accusing the railroad of negligence and of violating the federal Locomotive Inspection Act in a civil complaint, Kirol v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, filed April 18 in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming.
According to the complaint, on May 3, 2021, Kirol was working as a locomotive engineer driving a train near Green River, Wyoming, says the complaint, adding that he was still a “strong and able-bodied man” at that point, though now he has injuries requiring ongoing treatment.
Union Pacific had installed on the locomotives a computer software system known as “LEADER,” which was to control the locomotives without input from the engineer.
Kirol’s filing says the railroad company compelled him “under threat of discipline” to use the computer-driven locomotives that day to operate a lengthy freight train.
The computer system gave the locomotives dangerous instructions, the complaint alleges, telling the lead locomotive to slow down and the middle locomotive to speed up while climbing a hill, which made the middle locomotive rear-end the front cars, throwing Kirol around the lead locomotive’s cab, injuring his lower back and other parts of his body, the complaint alleges.
