Federal suit alleges AI system injured Union Pacific employee

“LEADER is not AI — it is a nearly 15-year-old technology that is part of Union Pacific’s Energy Management System and is similar to cruise control on a car,” according to a statement from Union Pacific. “LEADER does not ‘learn’ and make decisions that apply across other locomotives, and the engineer can take control at any time. It uses the topography of land, as well as train length and weight to optimally apply power and speed to the train, saving fuel and decreasing Union Pacific’s carbon footprint.”

Union Pacific calls the system an “energy management system” that “automatically [controls] a locomotive’s throttle and dynamic brake to reduce fuel usage, minimize GHG emissions and optimize train handling.”

The train was hauling freight near Green River, Wyoming, through an area of hills and valleys. Kirol was in the lead locomotive. A middle locomotive was typically controlled remotely by the engineer, but all locomotives were controlled by AI on the day of the incident, according to the suit.

As the train climbed a hill, the system slowed the lead locomotive while at the same time causing the middle locomotive to speed up. This “resulted in the middle locomotive violently pushing the cars between it and the lead locomotive towards the head of the train and into the locomotive where the Plaintiff was situated,” the suit states. “This caused a ‘rear ending’ of the Plaintiff’s locomotive with significant speed and force” by compressing the slack spaces between cars.

The conflicting speeds between the locomotives were “a circumstance which no competent Locomotive Engineer would have allowed to arise under the circumstances,” the suit alleges. Kirol was “violently” tossed around the cab, injuring his lower back.

The lawsuit alleges that Union Pacific didn’t warn Kirol of the possible hazards, didn’t train him adequately on operating the Leader system and failed to inspect the locomotives.

Kirol, who was “a strong and able-bodied man” prior to his injuries, expects to have physical impairments in the future and physical pain “probably permanently,” the lawsuit says.