The general use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems is a recent development in everyday Newport News Shipbuilding business practice.

The NNS Artificial Intelligence Policy outlines permissible use, ethical guidelines and accountability while ensuring shipbuilders can embrace the technology and reap the benefits it brings.

Cameron Altizer (K59) is a program cost control analyst who handles large data sets for work package budgets and operational performance. Almost two years into his shipbuilding career, he is using Dorothy 2.0 to enhance productivity.

One way Altizer is taking advantage of AI is tackling complex formulas and functions in Microsoft Excel.

“Dorothy also allows me to drop files into it directly, and use it to more specifically assess what I’m working with versus writing a bunch of prompts,” he said. “For example, when generating a formula in Excel, it will reference my specific rows, columns and cells.”

Excel workbooks can become massive over time, so Altizer takes care when using AI to reference any data he provides.

“I haven’t given it a full file with hundreds of thousands of rows,” he said. “I’ll filter it down to what’s necessary at the moment to keep the file manageable.”

Altizer also used Dorothy 2.0 to write a Python programming code that ran a statistical model, supporting his analysis process. Specifically, he provided an available data set of performance over time and had Dorothy construct code that modeled future performance using a weighted Monte Carlo simulation – a mathematical technique that uses repeated random sampling to estimate the possible outcomes of an event.

“Dorothy provided the code in seconds, and I was able to run the simulation based on the initial output alone,” Altizer said. “It also outlined what each line of code accomplished, helping me understand what happened in each step of the code.”

Altizer believes there are many places where shipbuilders can use Dorothy safely, gaining productivity enhancements and opportunities to save time with their work.

“Dorothy 2.0 feels much closer to the publicly available AI models that we explore on our own time,” he said. “It accelerates the working process as you approach your desired final product.”

Shipbuilders interested in learning more about AI resources at NNS should check out these short modules on Percipio:

• AI in the Workplace – Explore how AI can assist you at work.
• Responsible Use of AI – Dive into the principles of responsible and effective AI use.
• Writing Effective AI Prompts for Business – Learn how to create well-written AI prompts.

If you are interested in sharing how you or your department use AI to increase your productivity and creativity, email [email protected].