The Dorothy chatbot, implemented in 2022, is getting new features thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), expanding its reach across selected areas of the shipyard.

This expansion of technology is a natural progression of Newport News Shipbuilding’s digital journey, following the successful Integrated Digital Shipbuilding (iDS) program.

“We have a heritage of a future-focused company that’s really digitally-based and enhanced,” said Jason Sutton, vice president of Business Transformation and Technology and chief information officer. “Now we’re putting AI into the hands of everyone.”

Dorothy started at the Information Technology (IT) service desk. It will now expand to engineering and other areas of the yard on a case-by-case basis, allowing Dorothy to work alongside shipbuilders as their virtual assistant.

It’s important to note that the Dorothy Copilot will not replace jobs, but will use generative AI (GenAI) to interact in a conversational style like ChatGPT. Shipbuilders must understand their responsibility while using Dorothy. It is up to each employee to review and validate the information provided by the Dorothy Copilot before using it in the workplace.

Watch Sutton reveal what shipbuilders need to know about Dorothy’s new features on MyNNS.

These enhancements are just the beginning for the improvement of Dorothy’s functionality. Stay tuned for future communication about this endeavor, including answers to a list of frequently asked questions.