Because the most common search engines have been in use for so long, by habit more than anything else people turn to them to find answers to their questions or to satisfy a curiosity on a particular subject matter. Results returned seem to be advertisements first and then potentially a list of links to direct one to the topic of inquiry.
The All Nation Line Website fundamentally is a product database full of information. The site has a search feature and is indexed by the various search engine bots, also known as web crawlers or spiders, which are then ranked through algorithms. The rank may or may not drive the result to the top of the list.
Our website, by extension of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and something known in Computer Science AI as “Machine Learning”, can turn the information on our site into useful knowledge. As a consequence, the tools available, makes old search engines, which we are most familiar with, obsolete.
The best example of this AI was the introduction of ChatGPT. I direct you to the Microsoft Edge Browser whereby the Bing.com search engine has just the tool you need called Copilot.
Copilot is a lot of fun to play with and experiment because it does a pretty good job of answering direct questions. It also has the ability to learn in an interactive way. The first time I posed the following question, it returned an incorrect answer.
“What company owned the railroad depot in 1906 in Elizabeth, Illinois?”
The first result returned said it was the Chicago & North Western Railroad.
Upon my correcting it and coming back a few days later, it produced the correct answer which was the Chicago Great Western Railroad.
With respect to its usefulness to query the knowledge found on our All Nation Line website, it absolutely out performs the old search engines on the Internet. So when a modeler calls us up with a question on the telephone, I immediately turn to Copilot and enter in a well formed question. Some sample questions you may try on your own follow:
What can you tell me about All Nation Line company?
Ok, but what if I ask it about an inventory question, such as
“What motors are currently in stock at The All Nation Line?”
Does All Nation Line have any online videos?
Some questions may not have an answer if we do not have that information on our site such as the following.
What are the dimensions of the All Nation Line product number PN#6103?
Where we have indicated dimensional information on an item, a concise response is displayed such as the following question.
What are the dimensions of a 38.2 vdc Pittman motor sold at All Nation Line?
What is the Part Number for the New York Central Riders Car caboose kit sold at All Nation Line? The answer is PN#408ANK.
The more precise the question the more likely the correct answer will result.
The Copilot usually gives links to the sources for confirmation or suggestions.
Next, ask the following contrasting questions. First:
What is the yellow paint used on Union Pacific diesel engines?
Followed by:
How is the yellow used on Union Pacific engines different than yellow on Chicago & North Western engines?
Note the intelligent result where you do not have to page through 10 screens of search engine listings to hunt down the answer.
And sometimes Copilot can write a better answer than I can author.
How is the All Nation Line website integrated with Copilot?
You will have a good deal of enjoyment by putting these questions to Copilot to realize what I am suggesting for obtaining fast concise answers above and beyond what a search engine can provide.
Does All Nation Line sell to international customers?
Does All Nation Line have drawings and blueprint reference materials on site?
Can you show me a list of showcase modelers on the All Nation Line website? At which point, Copilot may ask you a question such as “Do you want more detail?” from or about the last result.
In addition to more detail, Copilot provides direct links back to models it is referencing so you can quickly go to our site for a deep dive and read the descriptions. And this is because our website has what is called “Linked Data” a key ingredient for AI learning capabilities.
If you want to know a price for a particular item and you have an inkling of a description such as an EMD engine model number or an All Nation Part Number you can quickly know the price.
What is the price of the basic SW 1500 kit from All Nation Line?
Where does All Nation Line Advertise?
There is an infinite number of questions or ways to ask Copilot for knowledge about our company and the products. And, we might add between the Copilot tool, our website and our on-line PDF catalog, OS2R model railroaders can gain a wealth of knowledge.
In conclusion, the biggest benefit to learn from a knowledge based tool like Copilot is time savings and pretty reliable and accurate data and information from our site that produces knowledge based results.
