domain
What It Means
A domain is a specific area of business, knowledge, or operations that has its own rules, data types, and requirements. In AI contexts, it refers to the particular field or industry where an AI system operates, like healthcare, finance, or manufacturing. Each domain has unique characteristics that affect how AI systems must be designed, trained, and governed.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
Different domains require completely different AI approaches, data handling procedures, and compliance requirements. A healthcare AI system faces HIPAA regulations and life-safety concerns, while a marketing AI deals with privacy laws and bias issues. CAIOs must understand domain-specific risks and requirements to properly govern AI deployments and avoid costly compliance failures or operational disasters.
Real-World Example
A bank's fraud detection AI operates in the financial services domain, which means it must comply with banking regulations, handle sensitive financial data according to specific privacy rules, and meet real-time performance requirements. The same AI technology used for recommending movies would need completely different safeguards, training data, and governance processes if deployed in this banking domain.
Common Confusion
People often think domain just means 'industry' or 'department,' but it's more specific - it encompasses the unique combination of data types, business rules, regulatory requirements, and operational constraints that define how AI must behave in that space.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, a domain represents a specialized area of medical practice or operations, such as radiology, pathology, o...
Finance: In finance, domain refers to specific business areas like trading, risk management, credit assessment, or regulatory com...
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Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"Distinct scope, within which common characteristics are exhibited, common rules observed, and over which a distribution transparency is preserved."Source: IEEE_Soft_Vocab
"A set of elements, data, resources, and functions that share a commonality in combinations of: (1) roles supported, (2) rules governing their use, and (3) protection needs."Source: SP800-160
"<artificial intelligence> specific field of knowledge or expertise"Source: aime_measurement_2022, citing ISO/IEC 2382
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